Chilli Orange Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

For the curry paste.

Juice and peel of ½ orange

2 chopped red shallots

2 long thin green chillies

10ml sugar

For the chicken.

4 medium green chillies

1 chicken breast, sliced into strips

15ml cornflour

15ml vegetable oil

150g basmati rice

400ml chicken stock

5 red shallots, chopped

Sugar to tatse

30ml tamarind water

1-2 pak choi

8 green beans, cut into 3cm pieces

A handful of bean sprouts

Method:

For the curry paste:

Preheat the oven to 100-120C.

Place the orange peel on a baking tray and place into a warm, but not hot, oven for one hour or until dried out. Remove and set aside.

In a food processor, blend together the chopped shallot, long thin green chillies, sugar, dried orange peel and orange juice. Increase the oven temperature to 220C.

For the curry:

Place the medium green chillies onto a baking tray and drizzle over a little bit of the curry paste. Roast for 4-5 minutes, or until the chillies blister and become tender. Make sure they do not burn. Meanwhile, coat the chicken strips in cornflour seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Shake off any excess. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan and fry the coated chicken strips for 2-3 minutes, or until golden-brown all over. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the rice in a pan for 10-12 minutes, or according to the packet instructions, until tender. Fluff up the grains with a fork and keep warm by covering with a lid until ready to serve. Add the remaining curry paste to the pan and stir, cooking for about one minute, or until aromatic. Add the stock to the pan, scraping up any bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Bring to the boil and season with a little salt.

Simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until reduced to a thick broth. Add the chopped shallots and simmer for 3-4 minutes, or until tender. Season to taste with sugar, fish sauce and most of the tamarind water. Add the chicken to the pan along with the pak choi and green beans, simmering until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Add the beansprouts. Serve the curry with the steamed rice.