Chicken curry for one

Ingredients to serve one

1 thick slice of onion, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 thin slices of peeled fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 small pinches of ground cumin, ground coriander, black mustard seeds and fenugreek
chilli powder or dried chilli flakes to taste
1 teaspoon cornflower
1 tablespoon Greek or bio yogurt, plus extra to serve
250g skinless, boneless chicken chunks or strips
sprig of fresh coriander to serve

This is a really nice little dish, requiring minimal work, and it is both fast and easy enough to keep solitary eaters from eating a boiled egg or a ready-meal for dinner. To make it for two, just double the ingredients and the cooking time. If you don't want to go to the trouble of adding spices individually, use best-quality curry powder. It will still be better than a ready-meal.

Put the onion in a deep bowl with the vegetable oil and toss them together. Microwave at full power for 1 minute, then add garlic and ginger and microwave again for 1 minute. Stir in the spices and cook for another 30 seconds.

Mix the cornflour into the spice mixture, then the yogurt, then the chicken. Microwave at full power for 4-5 minutes, stirring after every minute. Serve with extra yogurt and coriander. If you can't be bothered to cook rice just for yourself, a piece of bread will do for mopping up the spicy gravy.

Taken from 'The Green Kitchen' by Richard Ehrlich (published by Kyle Cathie, £12.99)