Camping curry: flavour in a hurry

Earlier this year we took our trailer tent away for a little break and I fed us all my camping curry. We love being outdoors as a family. Cooking simple food, laying on the grass, being removed from the chores of the house and the distraction of screens. Not to mention cooking outdoors which is something I get real joy from. I feel a connection to my essential self when I am cooking outdoors. This is heightened when I cook on the beach with the sea air in my lungs and the sand around my toes. I have a real sense of adventure and energy running through me as I carefully turn meat on a BBQ sheltered behind rocks or a windbreak.

I love packing simple belongings for our trips: playing cards, my favourite jumpers, the AeroPress which we wouldn’t be without now because we are woken at 6 am by little people with big voices. Sleeping under canvas does mean early starts but that also means we get full days and lots of experiences thrown in. Long before the trailer tent, we have been cooking simple food for a group of hungry campers. This week we bring you our camping curry. A perfect, simple but very tasty way to feed a family with limited kitchen resources.

In the video, I have a handy electric pan that we take on bigger trips but you can honestly make this curry with a big pan, some tinfoil and a gas stove/ campfire. It is our camping curry because it only needs a few ingredients and it comes together quickly compared to some of my other curry recipes that develop in flavour thanks to long cooking times. The spices are from my camping spice kit so I always know I have them on me and there is nothing fancy in there. You can carry the onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, chillis and coconut cream around out of the fridge so all you need to do is buy some chicken on the day. If you are camping and looking for even more speed and ease, ask the butcher to slice the chicken for you.

Of course, this dish is not just a good camping meal, you can easily bring it into one of your midweek meals because dinner needs to be easy most of the time. In our house, we are time-starved but flavour hungry so I am always inspired to cook simple food with big flavour. If I was making a veggie version of this I would add a couple of tins of chickpeas and some diced sweet potato. You can do it with fish, seafood – and, excuse the pun, but the world is your oyster.

Camping curry

This is our camping curry because it only needs a few ingredients and it comes together quickly compared to some of my other curry recipes that develop in flavour thanks to long cooking times. The spices are from my camping spice kit so I always know I have them on me and there is nothing fancy in there. You can carry the onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, chillis and coconut cream around out of the fridge so all you need to do is buy some chicken on the day. If you are camping and looking for even more speed and ease, ask the butcher to slice the chicken for you.

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 45 mins

Course Main Course

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 1 white onion sliced
• 1 red onion finely diced
• 3 spring onions finely diced
• 80 g ginger grated
• 8 cloves garlic 50% roughly chopped 50% grated
• 5 vine tomatoes roughly chopped
• 200 ml tap water
• 4 chicken breasts sliced
• 100 ml coconut cream
• 25 g fresh coriander chopped including stalks
• splash of white wine (optional)
• sea salt to taste

Spice mix

• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 3 tbsp curry power
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

 

• Prep your onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes, coriander and chicken then set them aside.
• Gently toast your cumin seeds and chilli flakes in a dry frying pan – be careful not to burn. Set them aside in a bowl and add your tumeric, curry powder and pepper to this mix.
• In a large pan add olive oil and fry your onions, ginger and garlic on a low to medium heat. It’s really important that the onions cook slowly. You want them golden but this will take a good 10 mins to achieve. If you rush this you will get a different flavour.
• After 10 mins your onions should be soft and starting to turn a golden colour. Colour is flavour so you want to be sure you achieve this before you the next step.
• Add some more olive oil to your onions which should be sizzling now. Be careful not to burn them. Add your spice mix, stir and let this mixture cook for 2 minutes on a medium to high heat.
• Add the tomatoes, give it a good mix, add a splash of white wine mix through to deglaze the pan. Basically, you are incorporating any of the flavour stuck to the bottom of the pan into the sauce. If you don't have any wine to hand use a bit of your water.
• Add 200ml tap water then put the lid on the pan with the heat reduced to low and cook for 10 minutes.
• Halfway through take the lid off and use the back of a spoon to crush the tomatoes. Season with sea salt, put the lid back on and keep cooking.
• Remove the lid and break down any remaining tomatoes then add your coconut cream, season and add your sliced chicken. Give it all a thorough mix.
• When the chicken is cooked add a handful of the coriander, give it a mix and serve with fresh coriander and sides of your choice.

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