Chicken Coconut Curry

Lately, I love coconut milk based curries. We were having our neighbors over and I thought I would try a new recipe. This recipe came out so delicious!! I really should get in the habit of writing down exactly what I put in things when cooking - end up making so many substitutions that I can't ever seem to duplicate a recipe!!! So here is the recipe with my tweaks:

Boneless Chicken Coconut Curry

Marinade
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 to 1-inch dice
1 tsp. Turmeric powder
1 tsp. Coriander powder
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. Ginger paste
2 tsp. Garlic paste
1 tbsp. Onion paste
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. hoisin sauce
Salt - less depending on soy sauce

Cook
Oil to fry
1 dry bay leaf
1/2 in. of cinnamon stick
1 medium sized onion thinly sliced
1 cup canned unsweetened or fresh coconut milk
1 green bell pepper sliced thinly
1 wedge of lime/lemon
cilantro to garnish

1. Marinate the chicken in for at least half hour.

2. Pour little oil in pan/pot and sautee the onions, bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Add the chicken strips only and sautee and until golden.

3. Add the coconut milk and reminding marinade into the pot with a little bit of water to make a thinner rich consistency of curry.

4. Simmer on med heat until chicken is well cooked, add the green peppers in the last few mins and sprinkle a little bit on lime/lemon on top and add some cilantro.

Serve with some warm rice and enjoy!

***Taste throughout the cooking process to adjust to your taste.
If no flavor picked up - add salt or soy sauce.
If too salty - add a little bit of honey or sugar.
Want a little more kick - add more red pepper or add a spicy green chili while cooking.

Peanut Butter Chicken Curry

I came across this chicken curry recipe in my search for a light summer afternoon meal. Its been tweaked a bit - when do I not! - and the result is a very delicious and hearty curry. So here goes - and try your own twist :)

Ingredients

Chicken (i used half a chicken cut up into smaller pieces)
Peanut Butter: 2 Tb sp.
Oyster sauce: 1 Tb sp.
Turmeric powder: 1/2 Tsp.
Chili powder: 1 Tsp.
Cumin powder: 1/2 Tsp.
Coriander powder: 1/2 Tsp.
Garam Masala: 1/2 Tsp.
Lime juice: 4 Tbsp. (increase as needed)
Soy sauce: 2 glugs
Oil to fry
Water

1) Wash and clean chicken and cut into pieces. Skinless.

2) in a bowl mix together peanut butter, oyster sauce, lime juice (leave a little for the end), 1 glug soy sauce, all the powders and garam masala. Add the chicken and mix well and massge in the marinade. Leave aside for about 1/2 hour.

3) Add some oil on a pan and heat. Add the chicken pieces one by one and fry for about 2 mins . We just want a nice seal.

4) Add water to left over marinade in the bowl. About 1 - 1 1/2 cups. Add another glug of soy sauce and mix all. Once the chiken is well fried on the outside, add this watery mix in and bring to a boil.

5) I taste tested the flavor and mine needed a little bit of sugar to cut the saltiness of the soy sauce. You can adjust accordingly. Leave on simmer till the oil rises to surface and chicken well cooked.

6) The curry will thicken a bit. At this point - add the remainder of the lime juice and let sit.

Serve with fluffy rice!

Enjoy!!

Chicken and Mushroom

Thursday, April 5, 2007: from bohemianbongo.blogspot.com. I cooked this dish when I was staying at my mothers' house in NJ and my lil brother was craving some non-desi meals. I was feeling particularly proud of my culinary skills with left overs so this blog was originally titled: i am an amazing cook! ;P

last night, i came home at 10p and Ryan wanted dinner but american/european meal. so the chicken was defrosting and i had picked up some mushrooms on the way home as well as this green eggplant shaped squash...just wanted to try it. anyway..i had no clue what to make! i ransacked my mother's cabinets and came across soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, maggie seasonings and chicken abode marinade. Had fresh limes, tomatoes and broccoli. and put some potatoes to boil.

i marinaded the chicken in a mixture of all the liquids w dash of lime. cut up 1 and half purple onions. I sauteed half the onions in some oil and put the chicken in. let it cook a little bit then poured in all the marinade into the pan and covered to let it simmer. next i had to fig out what to do w mushrooms. ryan wanted a gravy. meanwhile i boiled broccoli and the squash and Ryan made the mashed potatoes with too much salt!

to make mushroom gravy i boiled a half cup of water and mixed in 1 heaping table spoon of all purpose flour and made a thick concoction. the chicken was done on 1 side and flipped to brown the other. Pulled it out and put in serving plate. the pan had oil, marinade and the remainder onions cooked in. i poured in the flour concoction and stirred w a whisk to get a nice consistency then put in the mushrooms and cooked for a bit. added a bit of lime juice to give a bit of tangy flavor. once that was thoroughly mixed and cooked, poured over the chicken. served the broccoli, squash and tomatoes suateed in olive oil and garlic -and mashed potatoes on the side.

my goodness. the chicken and mushrooms came out fantastic! i should just open a restaurant!!! seriously make my best meals unplanned n from bare fridge and cabinets!

Sweet, Spicy, Sour Chicken Curry

Thursday, September 6, 2007: form Bohemianbongo.blogspot.com - my personal blog

I saw this recipe on TV the other night and tried out last night. Cal loved it. It gives a really unique taste to chicken curry... here goes the recipe.

You will need
Chicken - cut into pieces
Oil - for deep frying
Onion - chopped
Garlic - chopped
Ginger - chopped
Sour yogurt
Salt
Black Pepper
Chili Powder - adjust to your taste
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Bay leaf - 1 big
Cardamom - 2-3 pods
Cinnamon stick - half of 1
sugar
fresh chili and coriander

Clean chicken and cut to desired pieces. Marinate in salt and black pepper for abt 1/2 hr. Deep fry in oil just until it puffs up - it doesn't have to fully cook. Put aside for later. In the oil cook the onion, garlic and ginger till onions are transparent. Put in all the spices - adjust to your taste. Stir and cook the spices for a bit then put in the chicken and mix in with the spices. Pour water or chicken stock to cook the chicken in - cover and let simmer. Mix in sugar and salt into yogurt to your taste of how sour you want. Pour in the yogurt once the water is boiling. Stir well and cover and let simmer. Once the yogurt is cooked (it starts really soaked in the chicken) you have few options. You can adjust the sweet (add a bit more sugar), spicy (add a bit more chili powder) and sour (by adding sour yogurt).

option 1: mix in some green chili (split in half) and top it off with fresh coriander
option 2: mix in some almonds and cook for 2 more mins and serve with some almond slivers on top.
option 3: fry some onions till crispy and serve with it sprinkled on top.


Serve with fluffy white rice or parothas.

Honey Cardamom Chicken

This is my husband's absolute favorite dish at the moment. I was getting tired of all the curries so I went searching online for some interesting chicken recipes. I came across this but have modified it for our palates. Make sure make enough, cause Cal is usually licking the honey off the plate!!

Ingredients

Honey: 1/4-1/2 cup.
Cardamom - ground: 1 tsp.
Cloves - ground: 1 tsp.
Whole Black pepper: 1 tsp.
Red Chili powder: 1 tsp.
Olive oil: 3-4 tbsp.
Onion: 1 roughly chopped
Chicken: 1 cut into 4 or 8 pcs

1) Heat the honey slightly to make it easier to work with. I just microwave it for 10 sec.

2) Mix in all the spices except the onion. Place the chicken pcs in the marinade and mix well. I like to use my hands, so I really massage the honey mix into the meat. Also take a fork and pierce the skin to help the marinade seep in. Cover and set aside for at least 1/2 hour. If you have more time, leave it in the fridge on warm day for at least 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

3) Heat some olive oil in pan, throw in the chopped onions and let it sautee for 1 min. Places chicken pieces in the oil and pan fry. Once well fried on both sides, pour the reamaining marinade into the pan and simmer until ready to take off stove. Cook the chicken well - for at least 15-20mins.

I find that I have to cook the chicken a little bit longer here than I did in the states...oh well, better to have well cooked meat than under cooked!

Let me know how your family or you enjoy this recipe. I serve it, of course, with some fluffy white rice. Its also good on its own with some veggie sides and roasted potatoes.

Enjoy!