Many of us are busy people, or we like to think we are!

That means that, often, we don’t have enough time to prepare meals after work. Or are knackered after a day of doing tasks that never seem to finish…

It seems then, that having a method of cooking which requires minimal effort on your part, but maximum flavour, is ideal. I have recently discovered the humble slow cooker, which can soften the toughest of meats to tender, yielding works of deliciousness.

This slow cooker chicken curry is one of the simplest things I have made in a long time. All that is required is for you to chuck everything into the pot and let it do it’s thing.

The finished product, glistening in all it’s glory!

I considered buying a slow cooker for a while, but there are so many types on the market, how do you know which one is suitable for you?

I knew I wanted a cooker that was large enough to cook for a family, but not so big that there wasn’t a place to store it! London living spaces are at a premium, and I couldn’t justify wasting precious storage space. I want to buy all the things! It’s a constant battle, I’m sure you all know what I mean…

Looking up recipes that I could use to test my newly acquired gadget, I discovered that there wasn’t really a decent one for curry! I know, blasphemy! They were all quite stew like, minimally spiced and looked insipid – not what one wants in a cracking desi curry!

I thought secretly, surely I could come up with a better concoction myself? A slow cooker is essentially a handi blipping away at a constant low temperature. No supervision, stirring or hovering needed.

My mum likes to egg me on when I try these new things, indulging my curiosity with enthusiasm. She said, “I want to see what it does, I’ll even cut the onions for you!”

So, huddled beside each other, we peered into the glass-domed vessel and waited with anticipation, only to realise nothing would happen for hours! We then retired to comfier lodgings, with a good cup of chai to await the results of our experiment…

This recipe uses all the usual spicy suspects, but somehow, the flavours are that much more bold and vibrant.

The crucial thing about cooking in a slow cooker is to never open the lid! I had to restrain myself more than a few times, and content myself by staring avidly at it instead. The cooker needs to come up to temperature and then maintain it for hours to cook the food. Opening the lid will cause the temp to drop, and then you end up having to wait another hour for it to heat up again, all the while cursing your impatience!

Luckily, I made up my mind to purchase an aluminium cooker ( a Morphy Richards Accents Sear and Stew Slow Cooker to be exact). This allows me to sear and cook the food and bring it up to temperature, right on the hob! Be careful though, however, ceramic slow cookers are not designed to go over a naked flame, otherwise you might end up with shrapnel in your sauce…

The raw ingredients before they were transformed!