Curry for the cold

A pinch of spice can make a simple dish burst with flavour. These six recipes will warm you up on cold winter nights.

- JOHANÉ NEILSON

Oven-baked chicken curry

Serves 6

Preparation time 30 minutes, plus time to marinate Cooking time about 1 hour

You need

• 12 chicken drumsticks
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons medium masala
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 2 cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• juice of half a lemon
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1 cup yoghurt
• 1 big aubergine, in thin slices
• about 300 g pumpkin, in thin slices or cubes
• tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 tin (410 g) chopped tomato
• 1 cup cream
• 1 red chilli, chopped
• 100 g roasted cashews
• steamed rice and rotis, to serve

Here's how

1 Use a sharp knife to make two deep cuts into each drumstick - this will make the meat more flavoursome. Add the tomato paste, masala, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, salt and bay leaves to the yoghurt and coat the chicken with the mixture. Make sure you rub the marinade into all the cuts. Marinate the chicken in the fridge for at least an hour (preferably overnight).

2 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Mix the vegetables with the olive oil, salt, pepper and fennel seeds. Spread the vegetables out on a baking sheet in a single layer. Combine the tomato, cream and chilli in a second ovenproof dish. Put the chicken and marinade on top of the sauce, spreading the drumsticks out evenly. Bake the chicken and vegetables at the same time if your oven has enough space. The vegetables usually take about 30-40 minutes to cook and soften and the chicken one hour. (Keep an eye on the chicken because the cooking time will depend on the size of the drumsticks.)