<b>Cooking Chicken Curry</b>
With a well-stocked spice rack and canned tomatoes, you can easily turn ubiquitous chicken breasts into a rich chicken curry dinner in about one hour. The name curry comes from the Southern Indian word kari, or sauce. The British colonials appropriated the word to describe most Indian dishes with spicy sauces.
Although curry powder is available in most supermarkets, Michael recommends toasting and grinding your own spices to add depth and complexity to curries. His particular combination of spices, which includes coriander and dried chiles, gives a mild heat and rich fragrance to the dish. You can adjust the spices to suit your taste.
Just as French cuisine relies on mirepoix, a flavorful mixture of carrots, onions and celery, Indian cuisine uses its own combination of aromatics--onions, fresh ginger, and garlic--as the basis for many dishes. Michael uses these aromatics and cooks them slowly to create a richly flavored sauce.
Fragrant basmati rice and pappadams, staples in Indian cuisine, round out this chicken curry dinner. Available at Indian markets and larger grocery stores, pappadams are prepared flat breads made from lentils or a combination of lentil and rice flours. Lightly toast them over a gas flame or on a griddle if you have an electric stove.
<b>RECIPE</b>
Chicken Curry
Serves 4
<i>Ingredients:</i>
2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon whole fenugreek seeds
4 whole red chiles
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
10 curry leaves, fresh or dried
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 whole cinnamon stick, about 3 inches long
1 bay leaf
1 star anise pod
4 1/2 cups whole canned tomatoes, peeled and seeded, with juices
2 cups Homemade Chicken Stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 cup raisins, roughly chopped
Pappadams, for serving
Cooked basmati rice, for serving
Chopped peanuts, for garnish (optional)
Prepared Indian chutney, for garnish (optional)
<i>Directions:</i>
1. In a small dry skillet, toast the coriander, cumin, mustard and fenugreek seeds over medium heat until the spices become fragrant and begin to pop, about 2 minutes. Shake the pan frequently, taking care not the burn the spices. Pour the toasted spices into a spice grinder, and add the chiles, peppercorns, curry leaves, ginger, and turmeric. Grind until the spices are smooth.
2. Place ground curry powder in a small bowl. Add chicken, and toss to coat.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add chicken, cooking until browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove chicken. Set aside.
4. Reduce heat, and add ginger, garlic, and onions. Cook until softened and deep brown in color, 10 to 12 minutes. Add cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and star anise pod; cook for 12 minutes. Add tomatoes, chicken stock, and cooked chicken. Raise heat to medium, and cook until liquid is reduced, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, toast pappadams. Reduce heat to low, and stir in yogurt and raisins. Cook until warmed throughout. Serve with basmati rice and toasted pappadams. Garnish with peanuts and chutney, if desired.
