Time seems to have no meaning now with the lockdown take 2 in full swing.

Except for my father, wow geez he works by the clock, or should I say his stomach does. On Saturday I woke up close to lunch time and he was not impressed that we had brunch instead of breakfast.

So Last night before going to bed he mentions that he has a meeting at work so he would like breakfast before 8…which on a Sunday is a walk in the park. Every Sunday if we are not having koeksisters then we had a home baked pie. Just pop into the oven and press a few buttons and let it bake…no stress, so I was not worried at all.

Then my mother set every possible alarm clock in the house to ensure that I was up to make breakfast, forgetting that it was baked pies for breakfast, seeing as I was up already I started with lunch super early and by 10 lunch was ready.

Which was perfect, because every Sunday we are eating earlier and earlier and earlier, because my dad plans things that always start at 12, last week it was a Friends zoom party, this week it was a work thing, I can only imagine what time we will eating next week and what the excuse will be.

In my opinion he has a dirty habit, he always says don’t rush, don’t cook to early, don’t worry, make a light lunch and then when I do take it easy, start making lunch late and cook something light his out of it for the rest of the day…not sure why, after all I was following his instructions.

Lord and don’t let me be late, he will sit at the lunch table from 11 already eyeing the stove and what do you thing happens??? The food takes forever to cook or it gets burnt, so I know that as soon as he walks through the door the food needs to be on the table otherwise the kitchen seems too small for the both of us and then my mother rushes me to make quick because my dad is hungry and I land up stressing and giving myself a pressure headache and Leo gets hyped and what should be a relaxing Sunday afternoon turns into one where I have to sit on a tennis ball because stress makes the nerve in my leg go numb and then I can’t feel my leg, but try telling that to my parents all they keep telling me whenever I moan about my stressed leg, go see the Doctor.

Oh please all Doctors know is to cut and probe and stick me like I am a guinea pig, and no I am not being nasty because I did get rejected by every single one of the medical schools in South Africa, I am just telling the truth.

Back to the food, Leo only eats KFC chicken, it his Sunday treat, so when the lock down happened, KFC closed and then I stocked up on whole chicken like I had a farm in my back yard, but he wasn’t a fan of the way I was making it apparently, so my dad had to buy him ready made store bought roast chicken, which he loved more than mine. Then they stopped all Woolies stores from selling prepared food and well Leo lost out again and I made him roast chicken again and he had no option to eat it, eat his sister’s chicken which she made with love or starve.

When my dad saw that I was making chicken again for Leo, he went out and bought fillet, which is the complete opposite of a whole chicken.

So here I am sitting with 2 fillet packs that I have no use for and will eventually get freeze burn because everyone prefers chicken with the skin on, it just makes chicken more tastier.

Then I came across a recipe for a chicken curry that used chicken fillets, which was just up my street. The recipe had to be rearranged, altered and completely picked apart. Just one look at all those ingredients told me that lunch would not be enjoyed. There isn’t a single person on the face of this planet that enjoys biting into a whole peppercorn.

I love this dish, I might have cut up one too many potatoes and I may have cut the potatoes bigger than the chicken pieces, but there was no potatoes injured in the making of this dish and mashing a potatoe and mixing it with your curry, is just the best feeling. My dad, he didn’t really eat to tell me, he just shoveled forkful after forkful in so he could get to work.

I would make it again, maybe add in a some peas to break all the red of the dish.

Ingredients:

• 500g x chicken fillet, cubed.
• ¼ x cup olive oil.
• 1 x onion, finely chopped.
• ½ x tsp cumin seeds.
• A few curry leaves.
• 1 x tin crushed tomatoes, liquidized.
• 1 x tbsp. cumin powder.
• 1 x tbsp. coriander powder.
• Salt to taste.
• 1 x tbsp. chilli powder.
• 1 x tbsp. leaf masala.
• 1 x tsp ginger garlic paste.
• 2 x tbsp. tomatoe paste.
• 3 x whole cloves.
• A small piece cinnamon stick.
• 2 x whole cardamom pods.
• 2 x potatoes, peeled and quartered.
• Fresh coriander for garnish.

Method:

• Heat oil in a pot.
• Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, onion, curry leaves and salt.
• Stir and sauté till the onions are soft and transparent.
• Add in the both crushed tomatoes and tomato paste, cover and cook till it has released all its water.
• Add the spices, ginger garlic paste and about a cup of water.
• Mix well and allow the mixture to come to the boil.
• Add in the potatoes and chicken and enough water to cover everything.
• Cover and cook for 30 – 40 minutes or until the potatoes are soft enough to be broken with a fork and the gravy is nice and thick.
• Garnish with fresh coriander before serving.