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Recipe: Chicken Curry in a Hurry...
One of the problems of my illness is that forces conspire to limit my recognition of time flow. I start something by, say, thawing fresh chicken breasts I had previously frozen, and then suddenly there's this raw meat and I have no idea what to do about it. So, it was time to seek some intuition.
I like Indian food, and most importantly, it likes me. I grind and make a Garam Masala for home use, but occasionally you want someone else's slant on the situation. So -- The Spice House makes several fresh curries (curries are basically a pre-mix of certain flavors -- most of them bad mixes. But the House lucked into clients bringing them real Garam Masala mixes, and prepare them for clients.)
This is what I did with this Sweet Curry (Sweet as in compared to "Hot" curries -- less heat, not really sweet.)
I use an electric skillet at around 300-350 degrees F.
Safflower oil
1/2 tsp. sweet curry
2 yellow onions, sliced into rings
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 large chicken breast halves, cut into at least 8 pieces -- you can do 12 or 16, but remember white meat can dry out faster than dark meat.
1/2 tsp. sweet curry
1 can Muir Glen diced tomatoes, no salt added, no extras
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. sweet curry
Use several Tbsp. oil -- I prefer high heat safflower, since I avoid corn oil and hate canola.
Slice up two yellow onions into rings and saute in oil and first 1/2 tsp. until translucent and browning at edges. Push slightly aside.
Add garlic and 1/2 tsp. sweet curry to extra dollop of oil, stir together well.
Add chicken pieces into oil, garlic and curry, brown on sides. Stir together with onions.
When chicken pieces are sealed around the edges, add one 15 oz. can tomatoes -- Muir Glen highly recommended. Rinse down sides of can with good-tasting water, set it aside for use.
Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through -- add water as needed.
Five minutes before serving, add one more 1/2 tsp. of Sweet Curry mix.
Salt and pepper to taste; serve over rice. Basmati is best, but Texmati and even leftover Chinese restaurant rice will do nicely, or so W. reports. If eating rice, you may get four meals out of this -- we both had some, and there's enough for at least lunch for someone.
This turned out well. I forgot to salt and pepper (On bad days forgetting ingredients is another problem of the condition...) but that can be done to taste.
Costco pre-packs antibiotic free breasts in two-packs, and thanks to the fine people at Muir Glen, I can always have awesome organic tomatoes. So -- bad brain day does not have to mean bad food.
We'll do this again.
NOTE -- Do NOT add all the spice at any one point. This was my compromise with using pre-made curry powder. Spices added at the wrong point cause a recipe to turn out very odd -- or even inedible -- if you don't know what you're doing. For cheap spice advice, pick up this little gem. It's Bev Hale's old booklet she tossed together back when there were few books on Indo-Pak cooking. No pictures, no fancy publisher pages -- this was the equivalent of a mimeo back in the days. But just for starters, it contains the best chicken soup recipe in the world.
Buy it from Yard Dog Press -- it's cheaper and Bev actually gets a royalty. (Amazon means a ten cent royalty, but if you buy a chapbook from the publisher, it's a LOT more. And the publisher even gets paid!)
I like Indian food, and most importantly, it likes me. I grind and make a Garam Masala for home use, but occasionally you want someone else's slant on the situation. So -- The Spice House makes several fresh curries (curries are basically a pre-mix of certain flavors -- most of them bad mixes. But the House lucked into clients bringing them real Garam Masala mixes, and prepare them for clients.)
This is what I did with this Sweet Curry (Sweet as in compared to "Hot" curries -- less heat, not really sweet.)
I use an electric skillet at around 300-350 degrees F.
Safflower oil
1/2 tsp. sweet curry
2 yellow onions, sliced into rings
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 large chicken breast halves, cut into at least 8 pieces -- you can do 12 or 16, but remember white meat can dry out faster than dark meat.
1/2 tsp. sweet curry
1 can Muir Glen diced tomatoes, no salt added, no extras
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. sweet curry
Use several Tbsp. oil -- I prefer high heat safflower, since I avoid corn oil and hate canola.
Slice up two yellow onions into rings and saute in oil and first 1/2 tsp. until translucent and browning at edges. Push slightly aside.
Add garlic and 1/2 tsp. sweet curry to extra dollop of oil, stir together well.
Add chicken pieces into oil, garlic and curry, brown on sides. Stir together with onions.
When chicken pieces are sealed around the edges, add one 15 oz. can tomatoes -- Muir Glen highly recommended. Rinse down sides of can with good-tasting water, set it aside for use.
Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through -- add water as needed.
Five minutes before serving, add one more 1/2 tsp. of Sweet Curry mix.
Salt and pepper to taste; serve over rice. Basmati is best, but Texmati and even leftover Chinese restaurant rice will do nicely, or so W. reports. If eating rice, you may get four meals out of this -- we both had some, and there's enough for at least lunch for someone.
This turned out well. I forgot to salt and pepper (On bad days forgetting ingredients is another problem of the condition...) but that can be done to taste.
Costco pre-packs antibiotic free breasts in two-packs, and thanks to the fine people at Muir Glen, I can always have awesome organic tomatoes. So -- bad brain day does not have to mean bad food.
We'll do this again.
NOTE -- Do NOT add all the spice at any one point. This was my compromise with using pre-made curry powder. Spices added at the wrong point cause a recipe to turn out very odd -- or even inedible -- if you don't know what you're doing. For cheap spice advice, pick up this little gem. It's Bev Hale's old booklet she tossed together back when there were few books on Indo-Pak cooking. No pictures, no fancy publisher pages -- this was the equivalent of a mimeo back in the days. But just for starters, it contains the best chicken soup recipe in the world.
Buy it from Yard Dog Press -- it's cheaper and Bev actually gets a royalty. (Amazon means a ten cent royalty, but if you buy a chapbook from the publisher, it's a LOT more. And the publisher even gets paid!)