Caitríona Redmond: Celebrate good times with my party-friendly chicken curry

Plus: how to deal with the the post-party fear of a big clean-up

Caitríona Redmond's celebration chicken curry.

It’s been a while since we had a celebration at home, but we have a few milestones this year to gather together with friends and family to mark. 

There is a lot to be said for booking a table in a restaurant and being waited upon but my purse won’t stretch that far. Instead, we party at home. 

Not party in the night owls, drinking sense of the word. In my family, a party involves cake and often a singsong. Then everyone goes home at a reasonable hour and we get to enjoy a cup of tea in peace.

If you think it sounds sedate, you’d be wrong. I have a large family and so does my husband. Adding the two families together plus close friends (also known as chosen family) is chaotic, loud, and wonderful. 

Once the children have been unleashed on the sweet treats it gets even noiser. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Hosting a party requires advance planning and I love this aspect of home economics. The sooner I can get a date into the calendar the better because I can start buying the ingredients in increments. 

My favourite main course to serve is a curry of some sort and you will find my Celebration Chicken Curry recipe below. It’s not complicated and doesn’t take too long to cook. 

You can make this dish up to a month in advance and store it in the freezer once cool, then reheat in a slow cooker.

Batch cooking is the secret to cooking for a large group! Cook the curry in batches, freeze in batches, and defrost together in the slow cooker or overnight in the fridge. 

My recipe feeds 8 adults, but if you are cooking for twenty people, make three batches. A slow cooker will keep the dish warm for several hours and you already know that the meal is cooked through.

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Short on funds or time to chop? Use precut frozen vegetables rather than fresh. At certain times of the year they can be more economical, and because the vegetables will be slow cooked, your guests won’t notice a texture difference.

When it comes to sweet treats, items like fruit tarts and sponge cakes can be made well in advance and also frozen. I know you’re sensing a theme here.

For finger food, I like to go for ‘chips and dips’ such as hummus and breadsticks because they are so easy to put together at the last minute. A tray of cocktail sausages will bake in the oven with ease and then I use the rest of the oven to reheat a few apple tarts that I made earlier. I sound like a magician but honestly the success of a celebration for me is down to the planning. I don’t want to be tied to the kitchen for the entire day, I want to be sat in the thick of it and this way it’s far less stressful for me. Plus, I don’t have a big food bill to tackle on the day of the party, I’ve paid for it over several weeks and it’s not so much of a financial hit.

Home Truths

My biggest concern when catering for a group isn’t as much what they will eat. 

Let’s face it, I don’t know many people who are unhappy to arrive and be handed plenty of tasty food to eat that they didn’t have to cook or prepare themselves. 

No, my worry is how I will manage the cleaning up.

Conventional dishwashers hold 8 place settings; if I start with an empty appliance, I can only clean up after 8 people before the marathon task of washing up begins. Let’s not even talk about washing serving dishes or delicate crystalware.

For once, I am happy to offer my guests compostable disposable plates and cutlery. Anything to minimise the amount of work to clean up after a big event. 

Sometimes I have to pick my battles and this is the perfect example of choosing the path of least resistance.

Celebration chicken curry

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

This recipe makes 2 family meals for under €10.

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 30 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 50 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp of oil

• 800g boneless skinless chicken thighs (you can totally use fillets if you choose)

• 300g each of the following... chopped peppers, chopped onions, chopped carrots, and frozen or fresh peas

• 1 large tbsp curry powder

• 1 tsp garlic powder or garlic flakes

• 2 tbsp tomato purée

• 500ml water

• 25-50g of potato starch to thicken at the end (optional)

• Chopped chives, to decorate

Method

1. Chopped chives, to decorate

2. Heat a heavy casserole on a medium heat. Start with oil in the pan and sauté the chicken until it takes some colour. Remove the chicken and pour in the vegetables. Sauté in the juices from cooking the chicken for a few minutes. Add a quarter of the water and put the lid on the casserole to accelerate the cooking process.

3. After 5 minutes lift the lid, sprinkle in the curry powder, garlic flakes and tomato purée. Stir well so that these ingredients begin to cook. You will be able to notice a change in the scent from the pan as the tomato puree heats through.

4. Add the remaining water, stir well, then return the chicken to the casserole pan. Put the lid back on and put the entire casserole dish into the oven at 160°C for 1 hour.

5. After 1 hour in the oven, remove the casserole. Stir in potato starch to thicken the sauce or use a cornflour slurry alternatively. Serve with steamed rice or crusty bread.