Intuitive Homemaking: Chicken Curry

My husband has long had a fascination with India. Several months ago it occurred to us that we’d never been to an Indian restaurant and experienced that type of ethnic food. We went with some friends to a local restaurant and enjoyed it tremendously. However, I was a bit dismayed to receive my bill and realize “I just paid $13 for a bowl of sauce!”

Anxious to sample Indian cuisine again but reluctant to pay a big price tag for it, I set out in search of some recipes I could try at home. It didn’t take me long on allrecipes.com to find a winner. It helps to know that if over 1900 people have tried and reviewed it and it still has 4.5 stars, that it’s probably going to be pretty good. Here’s the recipe as I discovered it.

Ingredients:
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon curry paste
• 1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 4 chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons chicken stock
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh pineapple

Directions:
1. Cook and stir the curry powder and curry paste in a saucepan over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Pour the coconut milk into the saucepan and mix well. Stir in the fish sauce, brown sugar, and 1 cup chicken stock.

2. Place the chicken thighs, peas, peppers, and carrots into the saucepan with the curry sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the chicken is cooked though, about 25 minutes.

3. Whisk together 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold chicken stock. Stir cornstarch mixture into the curry. Mix the pineapple into the curry and cook until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Thai-Chicken-Curry-with-Pineapple/Detail.aspx

Now of course I can’t hang on to a recipe without tinkering with it just a little:

• I’d never bought coconut milk before and I’d never even heard of fish sauce. Curry powder and curry paste were also not in my cupbords. But I liked curry enough to go out and spring for the unusual ingredients and give it a try.
• I’m not a big dark meat fan, so I only ever have chicken breasts on hand. They work just as well.
• And I’m way too cheap to be buying fresh pineapple to put into a recipe. I’d rather have it on the side fresh and cold. I’ve tried using canned and it’s not very good. I skip the pineapple.
• To get the vegetables to cook at the same rate, I omit the peppers and use frozen peas & carrots, thaw them slightly under running water and add them in 5-10 minutes before serving so they don’t overcook.
• I like my sauce a little less thick, so I consider the cornstarch optional.

Here are some of the things I discovered:

1. Curry powder and curry paste are both necessary for the right flavor. I nearly double the amount listed in the above recipe because I like mine really strong.

2. It doesn’t taste nearly as good without fish sauce. It’s only a couple of dollars for a bottle in the Asian section of the grocery store and lasts for a long time.

3. Coconut milk can be really expensive. You might pay $2 for a can in the average grocery store. Fortunatly for me, I live in an area with a high percentage of Hispanic and Pacific Island people. There’s a grocery store down the street that carries more of their ethnic foods and I can purchase a can for $.88 to $1.30. Look for coconut milk in ethnic food stores for a better deal.

On that note, I might add here that not all coconut milk is created equal. The one on the left was $.88 and had coconut milk as the first ingredient. It's not always available at Super Saver, but I stock up when it is. The El Mexicano brand in the center cost about $1.20, but is full of fake ingredients and didn't taste good at all. The Pacific brand on the right was pricier at $1.39 a can, but worth every extra penny. It was primarily coconut milk and was much richer and creamier than the other varieties. And still far less than the Thai brands in a neighboring store. Long story short: read the ingredient list. If coconut milk is the first ingredient and there's less than three all told, you're getting the better product.

I found myself one day pre-preparing a lot of food for the evening, like cutting up chicken for various recipes (a much easier task when handled with the kitchen shears as opposed to a knife). To remember this was for the curry dish, I sprinkled it with curry powder and let it marinade. Not necessary, but a nice bonus of flavor when thought of in advance.

So here's my adapted and simplified recipe (which I always double to satisfy my hungry family, the photos below show a larger batch):
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 2 teaspoons curry paste
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk
• 1 cup chicken stock (or 1 t. chicken boullion & 1 c. water)
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 package frozen peas & carrots

Whether you mix the curry paste and powder together before adding in other ingredients or just dump in everything together, it still turns out about the same. You just want to get enough liquid into the initial mix so that the powder doesn't form into lumps.

If I've marinaded the chicken beforehand, I add it in the beginning to let the flavor cook in longer. If I've not taken that step, all the other ingredients can be added and then I'll cut the chicken into the sauce as I bring it to a boil. It's really hard to cook this recipe the 'wrong' way. :)