Chicken Curry #Recipe Peg Cochran/Margaret Loudon

 

I didn't always like curry.  The first time I tasted it I thought it was horrible.  Somewhere along the line, I changed my mind and now I adore curries.  This recipe looks as if it has a lot of ingredients but it's quite easy and quick to make.  I imagine you could sub boneless chicken thighs for the breasts if you would prefer that.  Sadly, I didn't have any cilantro (which I hate to chop anyway) but it was still very good.  If you are one of those people who hates cilantro, feel free to leave it out.  This is very good served with basmati rice and a piece of naan.  I tried my hand at making naan once.  You can find the recipe here.

Spice blend

1 1/2 tsp coriander  

1 tsp cumin  

1/2 tsp turmeric  

1/2 tsp fennel seeds crushed in a small bag with a meat mallet

1/2 tsp cinnamon  

1/2 tsp black pepper  

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp ground cloves 

Curry

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 small onion chopped (1 cup)

4  garlic cloves minced  

1 Tbsp peeled and minced fresh ginger

1 cup chicken broth  

3/4 cup drained canned diced tomatoes or peeled, seeded, diced fresh tomatoes

Salt to taste

Cayenne pepper to taste

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into cubes

1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp water (optional—to thicken sauce)

1/3 cup heavy cream  

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro  

 

Mix all the spices in the spice blend together and set aside.

Heat olive and sauté onions until golden brown.  Add garlic and ginger and sauté for 30 seconds.  Add spices and sauté for a few seconds for them to bloom.

 

Pour in chicken broth and tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.

Season with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste.  Add diced chicken.

 

Cover pot and simmer until chicken is cooked through, approximately 8 minutes.

Stir in optional corn starch slurry to thicken sauce.  Add heavy cream.

 

Serve topped with chopped cilantro.

 

 

 

 

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Chicken and Green Bean Curry #recipe from @MaddieDayAuthor #giveaway

MADDIE DAY here, and I know, it's Friday the 13th. But don't worry, this supper won't bring you bad luck!

We still have fresh green beans from our farm share. Like many of us, I get in a rut for idea about what to make for dinner. I'd recently done a teensy, unambitious rearrange of part of our pantry. I'd spied a jar of chutney and another of a curry sauce from Trader Joes, so I had Indian food on my mind.  And what better to pair a homemade curry sauce with than crunchy green beans?

One person in our household (not me, and there are only two of us) has trouble with small seeds getting stuck in his teeth. I have two Indian food cookbooks by Madhur Jaffrey that I love, but most recipes involve sauteeing cumin and mustard seeds. 

Instead, I found a recipe online from the British Heart Foundation. Hugh and I are both in our seventies, so a heart-healthy recipe is a win-win. Being me, I adapted a bit. (I'm not sure sour cream is really part of the program, but a half cup of sour cream is isn't much spread across two or four servings, and I'm all about moderation in all things. Except wine...)

Chicken Curry with Green Beans

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

4-5 teaspoons medium curry powder (or paste)

2-4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/2 cup chicken stock

4 tablespoons sour cream

1 tablespoon tomato paste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 cup green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 in lengths

Chopped fresh cilantro, to garnish (optional)

Heat oil in a non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and fresh ginger.

Cook gently for about 5 minutes or until onion begins to soften, stirring occasionally. Stir in curry powder; cook for 1 minute, stirring. 

Add chicken; cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes or until chicken is lightly colored all over, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook for one minute, stirring.

Stir in stock, tomato puree, and black pepper. Bring to a simmer, stirring; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Stir in sour cream and green beans; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for a further 10-15 minutes or until chicken and beans are cooked and tender.

Garnish with chopped coriander, if desired. Serve over cooked brown rice.

You could also slide in cooked chicken if you have it, or substitute broccoli or another green vegetable. Don't skimp on the curry powder or ginger, though - they give the dish that classic flavor.

If pescatarian Cece Barton in California substituted chick peas for the chicken in this recipe, she could also enjoy the curry for dinner. 

I'm excited to announce that I received a dozen advance copies of Deadly Crush, the second Cece Barton mystery, in the mail last week! They're not doing any good sitting in a pile in my office, so I'll send one to a commenter today.

Readers: What's your favorite international dish?

🐔🍛🍃

Murder at the Rusty Anchor is out and available wherever books are sold!

My most recent releases are A Case for the Ladies.

And Deep Fried Death, #12 in the Country Store Mysteries.

And Murder Uncorked, Cece Barton Mystery #1, which released in late October.

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We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.

Easy Chicken Curry

 

This was a very tasty curry and didn't take long to prepare.  I don't see why you couldn't substitute your own favorite curry powder or mixture if you didn't want to mix up the spice blend yourself although it wouldn't be as "authentic."  According to Madhur Jaffrey, the term "curry" was coined by the British.  No Indian cook uses curry powder--each dish calls for a different blend made from freshly ground spices.

 

I left out the cayenne pepper since hubby doesn't care for things that are too spicy. He also suggested adding some golden raisins at the end. I found I needed more cornstarch to thicken the mixture--about a tablespoon in the end.  You can start with a little and add more if you like.  You might prefer it to be more soupy.  I did serve it over basmati rice but that's obviously optional.  The cilantro is also optional--I know cilantro is an either love it or hate it herb!  This is very comforting and warming on a cold day!

 

Spice blend

 

1 1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed in a small plastic bag with a meat mallet

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp ground cloves

 

Curry

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped  

4 garlic cloves, minced  

1 Tbsp peeled and minced fresh ginger or ginger paste

1 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup drained canned diced tomatoes  

Salt to taste

Cayenne pepper, to taste

1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1 1/4-inch cubes

1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp water  

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

 

Mix together all of the spices in the spice blend, set aside.

 

Cut chicken into bite-sized cubes.  

 

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. 

 

Add in onion and sauté until slightly golden brown.

 

Add in garlic and ginger, sauté 30 seconds more then add in spice blend and sauté 30 seconds or until fragrant. 

 

 

Pour in chicken broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 5 minutes.

 

 

 

Blend mixture in a blender or food processor until smooth then return mixture to skillet.

 

Season sauce with salt and cayenne pepper (to taste) then add in chicken.

 

 

Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low, cover skillet and simmer until chicken has cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 8 - 12 minutes.

 

Make a slurry with cornstarch and water.  Add to skillet during the last minute of cooking to thicken sauce slightly.

 

Stir in cream then serve warm with cilantro over basmati rice.

 

 

Cranberry Cove #7 is finally here! 

 

Monica's stepmother wakes up next to a dead man!  Did she do it?

 

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Chicken Curry ala Mark Bittman from author @DarylWoodGerber

From Daryl:

So after Libby mentioned that I could add Indian spices to my butternut squash recipe, I had a craving for curry. I haven’t made curry in years and I didn’t have a recipe, so I went through my vast array of cookbooks and landed on a recipe by Mark Bittman,  How To Cook Everything The Basics.

He wrote down the “basics” for lamb curry and then as a side note offered the possibilities of making a chicken curry.

Well, I’ve got to tell you, it was a hit with me! I tweaked, as I always do, and I made my portion for 2 not 4, so it’s not exactly what is in the cookbook itself.

It’s entirely gluten-free, if you can eat curry spice.  I omitted the garlic from the recipe as garlic has not been my friend lately. Sigh. Love garlic; it hates me. But it you can tolerate it, add it.

And I did two versions; one with the yogurt and one without, which means, yes, I had dinner for 2 nights! Yum!

Chicken Curry

Serves 2

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, cut into 2” inch pieces. I used my kitchen scissors.

Salt and ground black pepper

1/2 sweet onion, chopped fine

1/2 tablespoon minced garlic * if you can tolerate it

1/2 tablespoon minced fresh ginger * more if you like

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 cup chicken broth (more if needed)

2 carrots, peeled and cut in 1” chunks

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup Greek plain yogurt (* take note of the 2 versions below!)

White rice, cooked according to directions

Put the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, adjusting the heat, and turning the pieces as needed so the meat doesn’t burn, until it’s nicely browned on all sides, about 8-10 minutes.

Meanwhile cut the onion, garlic, ginger, and carrots and measure the peas.

Pour off the fat from the pot (I didn’t have any) and turn the heat down to medium. Add the onion, sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic (if you can tolerate it), ginger, and curry powder. Stir constantly about 1 minute.

Stir in the stock, scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pot.  The liquid should come about halfway up the side of the meat. If it doesn’t, add more liquid. Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Then lower it so that the mixture barely bubbles (simmer). Cover and cook, stirring every 15 minutes and adding liquid if necessary, until the meat slides off of a fork (about 30-45 minutes).

If the curry looks too watery, remove the lid and raise the heat.  If it looks too dry, add a little more stock.  Remove from the heat.

Note: 2 versions -  1) Stir in the yogurt or 2) Don’t add yogurt at all.  Both are tasty!!

Serve over white rice.

This is made without yogurt and I loved it! 

Version 2 with yogurt - a little "creamier" I LIKED BOTH

This is made with yogurt and is slightly creamier. Loved this version, too.

Here's a bit about my latest book:

Mimi Rousseau is throwing the bistro’s first wedding—the nuptials of a famous talk show host. She is sure things will go awry when the bride’s father shows up drunk to the out-of-towners’ dinner. By the end of the evening, things look sweet again…until the next morning, when her benefactor is found dead at the bistro with an éclair stuffed in his mouth. All fingers point at Mimi, whose loan is forgiven if he dies. It’s up to her to éclair—er, clear—her name before the killer turns up the heat.

"Talk about a culinary delight, this book is the pinnacle of deliciousness as I devoured all that was written in this exciting new series featuring Mimi and her friends." ~ Dru's Book Musings

Savor the mystery!

*

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A DEADLY ÉCLAIR, the 1st in the French Bistro Mysteries, is coming November 2017. Can Mimi clear her name before the killer turns up the heat? Click here to order.

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A mother he thought was dead. A father he never knew. 
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