Chicken Curry- in a hurry

I've been feeling under the weather lately, but not too ill to cook. I drank some hot whiskey as recommended from a great friend, and  felt well and good to cook afterwards.


I planned this meal Sunday. I need quick and delicious on the weekday and Chicken Curry came to mind. Full of flavors, fast, filling and cheap! I keep loads of whole spices in my pantry, so I didn't have to purchase much for this meal. Remember, when purchasing ground spices, buy only what you use frequently or else the spices will lose their true taste. If you're lucky enough to have a spice store in you area, then just buy what you need or just buy small jars if you don't. McCormick has small jars of spices.


I used a recipe from Food Network's Kitchens, but added my own tastes to it of course. Here's the original recipe Food Network's Kitchens Chicken Curry Recipe

Ingredients

• 5 cloves garlic
• One 3-inch chunk peeled, fresh ginger
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 heaping teaspoon whole cloves
• 10 green cardamom pods
• 8 whole allspice
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Madras-style curry powder
• 2 red chiles , or more to taste
• 3 pounds skinless, bone-in chicken thighs 
• 1/2 cup pureed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups cold water
• 1/2 cup coconut milk

Directions

In a small food processor (mini-chopper), combine the garlic and ginger and puree to a paste.

In a small skillet, toast on medium the cardamom, allspice, and cloves until fragrant. Then put into a mortar and pestle pounded to the texture you prefer (or coffee/grinder or put into a plastic bag and bang until spices are broken down).

Heat the oil in a stew pot or Dutch Oven over medium-high heat. Add the grounded cloves, cardamom, allspice, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf and cook, stirring constantly, until dark and fragrant and the cinnamon stick unfurls, about 30 seconds. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic-ginger paste, curry powder, and jalapeno and cook, stirring, until lightly browned and fragrant, about 1 minute.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the tomato puree and chicken and cook, stirring, until the oil begin to separate and there is a distinctive crackling sound as the ingredients "re-fry" in the oil, about 6 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring, until the chicken is lightly browned, about 7 minutes more.

Add the water and coconut milk and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and stew for 15 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and tender and the liquid thickens into a sauce, about 30 minutes more. Transfer chicken curry to a serving bowl and nom it all up!

I wasn't feeling well enough to make a mango chutney and I forgot to ask my husband to buy basmati rice as when I was cooking I saw that we were missing some. So I just boiled up some Uncle Ben Rice and called it a day. I highly recommend you use basmati rice, but use whatever rice you have :) I also love to make naan bread with curries, but again, only had the energy for this! Look for a future blog post with chutney and naan bread recipes!!