Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry

This fragrant chicken and kumara curry is one of my favorite weeknight dinner recipes.

It's light, delicious and best of all, very easy to prepare. Tender chicken thighs and kumara are poached in a mixture of coconut milk infused with tumeric, curry powder and fragrant lemongrass and cilantro.

"Kumara" is also known as "sweet potato" and is a staple in New Zealand. The versatile root vegetable goes particularly well in this Asian-inspired curry.

Ingredients:

• 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 Tbsp of canola or vegetable oil
• 1 medium white onion, quartered
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 lemongrass stem, white part only, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp ground tumeric
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 medium sweet potato (kumara), cut into 2cm cubes
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 Tbsp of Thai fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp of sugar
• A handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 cup of basmati rice
• Serves 4

Preparation:

1. Cut the chicken thighs into strips or chunks.
2. Place the rice along with scant 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil over a high heat and then cover and turn the heat down low. Cook the rice for 10-12 minutes or until fluffy. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a wok on a medium-high heat and partially brown the chicken for about 1-2 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.
4. Add onion to the wok and fry for about 2 minutes or until translucent. Add a little more oil if the wok gets dry. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Add the lemongrass and fry for another 30 seconds.
5. Now add the tumeric, curry powder and chili powder and fry for 1 minute. Add the sweet potato (kumara) and sugar. Stir well. Add the coconut milk, water, fish sauce and cilantro. Stir well to combine and bring to the boil.
6. Once the curry is boiling add the chicken and then turn the heat down to low and cover. Simmer gently for 20 minutes.
7. Serve curry on a bed of rice and garnish with cilantro.