On a cold, dreary and rainy Carlisle day I decided to warm myself up with something unique, by mixing ingredients one would not normally put together. On Wednesday I went to the farmers market and bought farm fresh zucchini, sweet peppers and red onion that I knew I needed to use. However, being a chickenaholic and spice lover I needed some of that in my belly too! So I found a way to mix the veggies in order to make a fun, healthy spicy chicken meatball curry. I realized half way through cooking that so much of the chicken mince was sticking to my hand and fingers and I had no flour to minimize the sticky effect (hence the not so round chicken meatballs), however, that’s a lesson for myself in the future, think before I start, silly me! Despite that little failure, truthfully this was one of the best dishes I have made, so I have to share it with you!

Ingredients:

• mince chicken meat
• zucchini
• 1/4 red onion
• 3-4 small sweet bell peppers
• 2% Greek yogurt
• tandoori chicken Shan masala
• chicken Shan masala
• curry powder
• ginger and garlic paste
• cumin powder
• lemon pepper
• lemon juice
• salt and pepper
• dried parsley to garnish

Method for one packet on mince chicken:

Add ginger and garlic paste to the mince chicken with salt and pepper, and mix that in initially. Add around a teaspoon of curry and cumin powder, around 2 teaspoons of lemon juice and half a teaspoon of lemon pepper. Cut as much zucchini hat you want into long thin slices and add to the chicken mince. Mix that all in again, then add around 3 tablespoons of tandoori chicken masala (depending on your spice level), and 2 teaspoons chicken masala. Mix it all together, make little balls from the mince, and  shallow fry it in some olive oil. If it is not fully cooked from shallow frying, add water to cover the chicken, put a lid on the frying pan, and leave to cook on medium-low heat for around 5-7 minutes. Let the water boil off.

For the curry, in a separate bowl, mix 200g of yogurt, and add another 3-4 tablespoons of tandoori masala and 2 teaspoons of chicken masala (also depends on spice level). Add some chopped up garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice, curry and cumin powder and mix it all together. Chop up in small chunks, the sweet bell peppers and a quarter of an onion, and lightly stir fry in olive oil with salt and pepper. Add the chicken meat balls, once the veggies have browned, then add the yogurt mix, and stir in well to make sure everything has mixed. Add water until the chicken is covered and stir again. Turn the stove to medium-high until most of the water has boiled off and a curry remains. Add some dried parsley, or even better cilantro(unfortunately I didn’t have any) to garnish.

And voila! You have a different, exotic healthy chicken dish which can be eaten plain, with rice, roti (chapati), tortillas, or whatever your heart desires!