Chicken Saag

It's got to the point where I need to watch the calories for a while and lose some weight before Christmas. Since I've reached the age of fifty I certainly know what the saying middle age spread means. Talking to friends at the weekend I have been recommended to try and cut out carbs including potatoes, rice, pasta and bread. So I thought I'd give this ago where I can. Of course giving up wine could be beneficial too, but let's start with the easier options. While in Aldi last night I saw a frozen, slimming  chicken Saag meal and nearly put it in my trolley as I was feeling too lazy to cook. Then I remembered I don't like ready meals and given that it was of the slimming variety would probably like it even less. So I looked at the ingredients and bought them instead. There are plenty of recipes for chicken saag on the internet, I chose the slimming world one as I had most of the ingredients and it seemed quick and simple. I didn't have any fresh tomatoes, so I used a tin of tomatoes which I found made it less like a curry, chopped fresh tomatoes would have been a lot nicer. I also added some fresh lemon juice. Even without rice I found it really filling and satisfying.  I had the leftovers for lunch today. Its a recipe Ill do more often, especially if it helps with weight loss.

Ingredients

Serves 4
low calorie cooking spray (I used olive oil)
2 medium onions, finely chopped
200g closed-cup mushrooms, sliced
6cm piece of root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp medium curry powder
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 chicken stock cube
700g skinless and boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 ripe tomato, roughly chopped
100g baby leaf spinach, roughly chopped
large handful of roughly chopped fresh coriander
4tbsp fat free natural Greek yogurt
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Spray a large, deep non-stick frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat.
Add the onions and fry for 5 minutes, adding a little water if they start to stick.
Add the mushrooms, ginger and garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Stir in the curry powder, tomato puree, stock cube and 300ml of water and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the chicken and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the tomato, spinach and coriander and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Take the pan off the heat, stir the yogurt into the curry and season to taste. Serve hot with rice and your favourite vegetables.

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