Good-for-you Creamy Curry

You know those gorgeous indian curries from up north - the ones you're not supposed to eat because they are full of all the bad stuff - cream, butter, ghee, ground nuts and coconut cream - dishes like Butter Chicken and that super creamy Korma. By God, they're good. But ohhh, so BAD!

This is a healthy take. It's still incredibly decadent, creamy and rich, but has a fraction of the naughtiness you'd expect. The secret is all in making a puree from vegetables that are naturally creamy, sweet and nutty in flavour.

Ingredients

• 4 medium-sized chicken breasts (about 750g), each cut into about 6 pieces
• 500g pumpkin, medium dice
• 2 small onions, diced
• 2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 10 curry leaves
• 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds (bruised)
• 1-2 tsp good curry powder (depending on strength)
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder (optional)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 small tub low fat yoghurt (approx 170g)
• olive oil
• 1 cup frozen green peas (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC . Place the pumpkin in a roasting pan with a little olive oil and salt, and sprinkle with cumin seeds. Roast for about 20 minutes or until slightly browned and soft.
2. While this is happening, add a little oil to a hot pan, then mustard seeds waiting for them to start to pop. Then add curry leaves, onion and garlic. Turn down the heat a little and brown onions, then add powdered spices. Finally stir in the cooked pumpkin and tomato paste.
3. Place the onion/pumpkin mix with the stock cube and yoghurt into a blender and pulse until smooth. You may need to add a little water.
4. Don't wash the pan - heat it up again, add a touch of oil if needed and brown off the chicken. Then add in the puree, turn down the heat and simmer slowly for a further 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. If adding peas, do so in the last five minutes.

Notes:

I've done a kilojoule count, and I believe this contains the following baddies:
170g low fat yoghurt - 410kj
500g pumpkin - 80kj (not really that bad...)

Comparing that to a gorgeous Chicken Korma recipe that I found on Fine Dining Lovers (tried and tested - it's the real deal), whose naughty ingredients include:
120g almonds - 800kj
75g full cream yoghurt - 380kj
150ml cream - 2150kj

The rest of the ingredients are fairly similar, and the taste is comparable (the roasted seeds and curry leaves help add a nutty character), and both serve 4. It's definitely worth a try, when you realise the kilojoule difference is probably around 2810 kilojoules, or about 670 calories. Holy cow!