Chicken curry – Outdoor cooking recipe

I was amazed yesterday to see what some climbers have in their rucksack…you think it’s always full of gear, rope, quickdraws, etc…  Well, when a  friend of ours turned up the other day and unpacked his backpack, it was full of things to eat! I saw 3 litres of water, 500ml milk, 1 500g espresso tin can, 2 packs biscuits, 1 salami, 1 huge bag of bread, his camping gaz cooker, a small pot, espresso machine. . And no, he wasn’t planing on sleeping out either. So it seemed it was going to be a looong day out for him.

On the road, you find yourself often with basic spices together with your cooking utensils. The luxury is at home, where your spices wait patiently for you till you return. It would be impossible to bring them all along. (But pssssst!  I do bring some) A Chicken Curry dish is easy to make and it’s easy to get the basic ingredients in any foreign country too. Bring along an authentic asian curry powder for your trips. (if you are fussy) It’s a sure success and will definitely surprise everyone around you.  This is a short cut curry that tastes just as good as the authentic ones, perfect for outdoor cooking. A real Malaysian or Thai curry has plenty of spices in it. But on the go, I’d say it’s legal to cheat a little.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Chicken drumsticks with the upper thighs, 3-4 pieces
• Curry powder (2-3 tablespoons)
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 1 big onion (chopped)
• Ginger (size of a thumb), sliced
• Chilly (either fresh or dry)
• Milk (3% fat) or better: 1 can Coconut Milk 400g
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• salt to taste

Method:

Clean those drumsticks and cut them into smaller bite pieces. I usually just cut them at the joints – or if you’re blessed with a washing sink and lots of water and a sharp knife, it’s best to debone the chicken altogether. This quickens the cooking time and ensure that the meat is through. Pat them dry and lay aside.

Start your gas/petrol cooker. Add some oil to your pan. Once hot, fry onions, garlic and ginger till light brown. Add the curry powder and chilly and continue frying till the oil comes out from the mixture. Put in the chicken and fry shortly. Add milk or coconut milk and simmer them (lower the heat) for at least 10 -15 mins. Stir now and then to ensure that nothing is burning at the bottom of your pot.

Serve hot with rice,  couscous or white bread. Fresh cucumber slices are great to go with rice and curry.

As always, the longer you cook the more intensive it will become. 1520 minutes is the minimum cooking time so that the curry taste infuses the chicken.