Indian Chicken and Spinach Curry

Preparing an Indian dish does not need to be time consuming. Get a head start by chopping your onion, ginger and garlic and by measuring your spices. I was in the mood for Indian food, but didn't want to spend hours in the kitchen preparing it - so I adapted a chicken curry recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's "From Curries to Kebabs".

Ingredients:

3 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
3/4 tsp ground cardamon
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garam masala
1 lb chicken breast cut into small cubes
1/2 cup plain yogurt
16 oz bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cup water
salt to taste

• Heat oil in a large pan. Add chopped onion and fry until it becomes translucent. Add garlic and ginger and fry for a few seconds. Add cardamon, cinnamon, coriander, cumin and cayenne pepper. Stir for a minute.
• Add chicken pieces and continue to stir for two minutes thoroughly blending chicken with spices. 
• Gradually add yogurt, one tablespoon at a time, and keep stirring until chicken is browned. 
• Add tomatoes and stir for two minutes. Add spinach and stir to combine. 
• Add one cup water and salt to taste. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Before serving remove cinnamon stick and sprinkle curry with garam masala.

Serves 3-4