Dry Curry

Ingredients

• 5¼ ozground meatchicken, pork or mixed; break up finely while frying
• 1onioncoarsely finely diced
• 1 clovesgarlicfinely chopped
• 1gingerthumb-sized, finely chopped
• 2 tspcurry powdertoast briefly or stir in for seasoning
• 1 tbspsoy saucefor seasoning
• saltto taste, also to pre-season the meat
• Pepperto taste
• 1 tbspoilfor frying
• 10½ ozRicemixed in or served as a bed
• ½ ozbutterinstead of oil as frying fat (optional)
• 1carrotcoarsely finely diced (optional)
• 1½ tbspWorcestershire sauceseasoning base (optional)
• 2 tbspKetchupseasoning base (optional)
• ½ tspsugarto round off the seasoning (optional)
• Garam masalaa pinch at the end (optional)
• 3½ ozbean sproutsfinely chopped, bulks out the dish with few calories (optional)
• 3½ ozMixed vegetablespeas, corn, carrot (optional)
• 3 tbspSweet corncanned, drained (optional)
• 2Okrasliced (optional)
• 1 tspchicken stock powderfor seasoning (optional)

Method

1. Prep the vegetablesFinely chop the garlic and ginger, and cut the onion and, if you like, the carrot into coarse-ish small dice.
2. Season the meatSeason the ground meat with salt and pepper and let it sit for a moment.
3. Fry garlic and gingerHeat the vegetable oil or butter in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the garlic and ginger until they smell distinctly fragrant, about a minute.
4. Soften the vegetablesAdd the onion and, if using, the carrot and fry, stirring, until the onion turns translucent and the vegetables are soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Sweet corn and sliced okra go in at the same time if you're using them; for the lighter version, add finely chopped bean sprouts and frozen mixed vegetables here instead of the fresh vegetables.
5. Brown the ground meatAdd the ground meat, break it up finely with the spatula and fry until crumbly and cooked through. Blot up any excess fat with kitchen paper.
6. Toast curry and seasonStir in the curry powder and toast it briefly, then season with soy sauce, plus either Worcestershire sauce with a little sugar or ketchup instead, and a little chicken stock powder if you like. Keep frying for a good minute, until the seasoning has worked its way through the meat, and finish with a pinch of garam masala if you like.
7. Serve with riceTaste and adjust with salt and pepper, then spoon the curry over the cooked rice — or add the rice straight to the pan and fold it through until evenly seasoned.

Tips and variations

The meat is up to you: ground chicken, pork, or mixed beef-and-pork ground meat. For the seasoning base, use either Worcestershire sauce with a little sugar and soy sauce, or ketchup with soy sauce; a pinch of garam masala at the end adds depth. Butter instead of oil makes it rounder. For a lighter version, swap the fresh vegetables for finely chopped bean sprouts and frozen mixed vegetables; canned sweet corn and sliced okra make it look good — both simply go into the pan along with the vegetables. If you prefer the rice separate, simply serve the curry alongside as a pan dish.