chicken curry for children

When I studied for my nutritionist certification, a lot of the tasks for children were annoying me, as it was always about “hiding vegetables” or making a dish look like something it is not. Here is the thing. Children aren’t dumb. And children, just like adults, deserve to know what they are eating – and if they are old enough also why they are eating it. When I started in the nursery, I was convinced I would never hide vegetables or fruit – and got proven wrong almost immediately. My approach with the cooking classes and also with my menus is to introduce food they don’t know, offer a variety and make the vegetarian food just as appealing as the non vegetarian food. And to blend as many vegetables into sauces as humanly possible. 🙂

Once I left the high horse of mine, I found a compromise: I will make a sauce based on vegetables, many, many vegetables – then add more vegetables in pickable sizes at the end. Fuzzy children will be able to pick out the vegetables they don’t want to eat – and still get all the nutrition they need.

This easy chicken curry works with any ingredients you have at home – but here is my version. You will need (2 children, two hungry adults or 4 children, 1 adult and any combination of people possible, essentially 4-6 portions):

2 white onions, 4 sticks of celery, a kilo of carrots, 1 yellow and one red pepper, 2 potatoes, a hand full of red lentils, a small piece of fresh ginger, half a mild chilli without the seeds, 2 cloves of garlic, a hand full of frozen peas, 500g of chicken breast and 200g of jasmine rice. Additionally you want 2 spoons of mild curry (madras for example), a vegetable stock cube, salt, pepper, vegetable oil and a small can of coconut milk.

Turn on your oven, put the chicken breast on a tray with baking paper and put it in at 175 degrees / gas 5-6. The chicken will stay in there for roughly 20 minutes, which is the time you will need to prep the sauce. Wash your vegetables under cold water, peel the onions and the garlic, chop off the ends of the carrots and remove the stem and the seeds of your peppers. Cut the onions, the carrots and the potatoes into chunks. They don’t need to be perfect, if you would like, your child or children can even help with this step. set aside a few pieces of the peppers, the carrots and the celery to throw in at the end. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium sized pot, add your vegetable chunks (leave the peas and the vegetable pieces you set aside earlier out). Fry the veggies in the oil, with the garlic, the ginger, the spices and then add some water to cook them. Add the stock cube.

While your veggies are cooking, wash the rice with cold water to remove any dirt. You’d be surprised, how much dirt is hiding between these perfectly white grains. Once your rice is washed and your water comes out clean, put the rice into a pot and add enough water to cover it, plus a pinch of salt. So, my trick for perfect rice is to bring it to the boil, boil for a few minutes, then add a lid and turn off the heat. Just let it sit there until your meal is ready, but don’t lift the lid again.

When your veggies are cooked, blend them. Add another 300 ml of water and the lentils and bring to the boil again. The lentils and potatoes will automatically thicken the dish without you having to add flour, cornflour or anything else. Remove your chicken from the oven, add the cooking liquids to your curry and cut the chicken into cubes. Add it to your pot and cook for another ten minutes, don’t forget to stir. If it gets too thick, just add a bit more liquid. Right at the end turn down the heat, add the coconut milk, your peas and vegetable pieces and let it sit there for another ten minutes before serving. By this point it doesnt need to boil again. Season to your liking and that’s it!

It’s one of the favourites in the nursery, both for kids and staff.