Quick Curry with Rice

Quick Curry with Rice

Cooking Indian curries take a long time. On weekdays it just seems impossible to spend an hour to whip up a nice curry for the little one. This is my quick version of the popular Indian 'Butter Chicken Curry'. I use pasta sauce as a base. The pasta sauce is precooked-onions,tomatoes,garlic,etc. So saves time for preparing the base. Far far from the traditional recipe !

2 cups pasta sauce (I use First Street Mushroom as it has a mild flavor)
1/2 cup cream
1 cup milk
2-3 tsp taco seasoning /Indian spices such as powdered cumin, clove, cinnamon, coriander
1/2 cup Chicken Broth /water
few sprigs of fresh coriander/cilantro (optional)
1 tbsp butter (optional)
small pieces of roasted chicken (optional)
cooked rice

Add the pasta sauce to a sauce pan and bring to boil. Add the spices- Indian spices/taco seasoning and let it cook for couple of minutes. Add milk, water/broth and bring to boil. Add chicken pieces (if using). Add cream and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust the water/milk depending on how thick you want the curry to be. Add butter (if using). Garnish with cilantro (toddlers don't care about garnish though!) Serve on a bed of rice/or with flatbread (naan).

My son likes some extra curry in a cup so he can help himself by eating it like a 'soup'

Note: Instead of chicken, you can add cubes of paneer (Indian cottage cheese)

Health tip: This is traditionally a 'heavy' curry and I don't mind the calories for my son. However, you can replace cream with half and half or just milk and use soft tofu to thicken the curry.

Next time I will also try to add some chopped spinach or mustard greens