Thai Chicken & Mango Curry in 30 minutes!

A delicious creamy and sweet curry, this chicken and mango curry uses mango puree in the sauce as well as rich coconut cream. Simple to make in under 30 minutes from beginning to end, the Thai flavours sing in this delectable dish.

One of the inevitable things about a new year appearing from around the curve is the oft-asked question, "So what is your new year's resolution?". I'm not a firm practitioner of the resolution but I will admit that there are certain things that I may want to do this year. But they aren't exactly your standard things like "lose weight, work out more (I would be setting myself up for a fail) and drink less."

Mine are more things like:

1) develop magic skills

2) visit Harry Potter world and Cuba

3) eat more food

4) see if it is too late to become a police detective

Perhaps I don't really understand this resolution stuff properly but this was all I could come up with while I was cooking and thinking (which is when I do my thinking apart from in the shower). I was so distracted that I didn't actually intend to blog this recipe which is why there is just a pic of snake beans that I thought were pretty enough to put on instagram (they weren't). I was merely playing around in the kitchen. I'm not even sure if this is an authentic Thai dish or not so the Thai is more in reference to the flavours rather than any claim to authenticity.

I picked up some great mangoes and snake beans at the market and decided to make a chicken curry with them. I think I was thinking along the lines of the Thai duck and lychee curries that I've eaten and how the fruit cools against the spicy coconut of the sauce and meat. I pureed some of the mango around the pip area as it was a bit too hard to cut it up into chunks and added it to the sauce. It ended up being so delicious that I decided that I just had to share it with you! This sweet and creamy curry is easily done in less than 30 minutes and makes enough to feed four hungry people.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you do new year's resolutions? And if so, what are yours this year? Did you end up fulfilling last year's?

Thai Chicken & Mango Curry in 30 minutes

An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Oil for frying
2 onions, peeled and chopped* I put them in a small food chopper with the garlic and ginger
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
4 slices fresh ginger, peeled
3 tablespoons red curry paste
500g/1lb. chicken thigh fillets, cut into small pieces
2 cups coconut milk or coconut cream
2 cups chicken stock
1 large mango
1 bunch snake beans (or use green beans) chopped into 1 inch pieces
Fresh coriander/cilantro and Thai basil to garnish
Boiled rice to serve

Step 1 - First get the rice started because that will take about 15 minutes. Then place a few tablespoons of oil into a large wok or pot on medium to high heat. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and fry until golden. Add the curry paste and fry for a minute until very fragrant, then add the chicken pieces and coat in the paste. Add the coconut milk/cream and stock and place lid on and cook for 10 minutes until chicken has cooked through and the sauce has thickened. After 5 minutes, add the beans.

Step 2 - While the chicken is cooking, slice both cheeks off the mango and cut around the pip removing as much mango flesh as possible. Place the bits of mango flesh in the food chopper along with the the flesh from half of one cheek (remove the skin). Puree until smooth. Cut the rest of the 1.5 cheeks into small mango cubes.

Step 3 - Once chicken has cooked, add the pureed mango and taste for seasoning. As curry pastes vary I find that you may need to add fish sauce if it isn't salty enough, lime juice if it needs acidity or chilli if it needs spice. You shouldn't have to add sugar as the pureed mango gives the sauce additional sweetness. Once everything is cooked, add the mango pieces and top with the coriander/cilantro and Thai basil (go easy on the latter as it is strong). I pour a little of the coconut cream on top to make it a bit richer.

Curry Rezepte Sri Lanka: Curry-Huhn mit Mango Chutney

Curry-Huhn (Curry Chicken) ist eine weit verbreitete Delikatesse aus Süd-Asien, Ost-Asien und auch der Karibik. Die Hauptzutaten sind, wie der Name schon sagt, Curry und Huhn. Die dabei verwendeten Curry-Pulver-Mischungen aus Kurkuma, Kreuzkümmel, Ingwer etc. variieren mit der Region, und werden in die Sauce zusammen mit dem Huhn gemischt. Curry-Huhn ist eines der einfachsten, aber zugleich leckersten Curry-Gerichte, und ist nicht nur in Asien sehr beliebt. Es geht schnell, es macht sehr satt und es ist vor allem eins: lecker!

4 Hühner-Brüste (ca. 400g) in kleine Stücke geschnitten

1 kleine Zwiebel grob gehackt

1 rote Paprika in Streifen geschnitten

2 kleine rote Chilis (getrocknet und gemahlen)

100ml cremiger Joghurt ungesüßt oder Kokoscreme

2 TL Currypulver

½ TL schwarzen Pfeffer

Schichten Sie Huhn, Zwiebeln, Paprika und Erbsenschoten in einen Topf. Vermischen Sie die restlichen Zutaten außer Joghurt bzw. Kokoscreme; geben Sie die Mischung über das Hühnchen. Bedecken Sie den Topf und köcheln Sie das ganze auf kleiner Hitze ca. 30 Minuten, bis das Gemüse gar ist und das Hühnchenfleisch innen nicht mehr rosa ist.

Erst dann den Joghurt bzw. die Kokoscreme einrühren und langsam erhitzen, nicht aufkochen!

Servieren Sie mit Reis, und würzen Sie nach Belieben mit Salz, schwarzem Pfeffer, Kokosflocken und gehackten Ernüssen.

Weitere Curry-Rezepte aus Sri Lanka:

Thai Red Curry with Chicken & Mango

The secrets to a really great Thai curry using store bought curry paste are: sautéing the curry paste with onion, garlic and fresh chilli, and simmering the curry with kaffir lime leaves (key tip). Plus my secret tip for a thick, extra saucy, extra tasty sauce with 1/3 less calories – MANGOES. Seriously. (But I’ve also provided the recipe using just coconut milk!)

Ever since my visit to the Groves Grown Tropical Fruit farm which I babbled about in the Coconut Shrimp/Prawns with Spicy Thai Mango Sauce recipe I shared a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been going a little mango-mad.

Mango sorbet. Mango cheesecake. Mango marinade (seriously SO GOOD!). Mango salsas.

I don’t want to overwhelm you with mango recipes so I decided to pick one more to share this summer. And really, there was no contention.

This Mango Thai Red Curry. There are no words. Honestly, I think it’s the best “from scratch” invention to come out of this kitchen for a while. LOOK how thick and saucy it is! With 1/3 less calories.

Everyone loves a great curry, especially creamy coconut milk ones. But I rarely have Thai curries midweek because of the calories….WOWZER! Coconut milk is seriously loaded with calories. There are 920 calories / 3,850 kilojoules in one 400g/13oz can of coconut milk. Did you know that??

Sure, you could go low-fat coconut milk. But it’s nowhere near the same……Those who have tried it will know exactly what I’m talking about when I say that the curry sauce is watery instead of creamy.

So the awesome discovery I made?? Switch out half the coconut milk with mango puree. That’s right, mangoes! In puree form it’s thick and creamy, has the sweetness of coconut milk – the PERFECT coconut milk substitute. With less than 1/3 of the calories of coconut milk.

And in case you are concerned, NO it’s not too sweet! Coconut milk is sweet anyway, so it basically replaces that. Plus, here are the ratios I use: 1 can (400g/13oz) coconut milk, 1 cup mango puree and 3/4 cup chicken broth/stock (thins out the mango, adds extra flavour depth).

There is no way anyone would taste this curry and think “this is sweet”.

To be clear – I did not invent this recipe in a bid to lighten up curry! I made it simply because I thought it would be delish – and it blew me away. And my taste testers. Especially when I told them it was so much healthier than the usual red curry!

This is the very first recipe I’m sharing which uses a store bought curry paste. And it’s in response to a request from a friend who mentioned that curries she makes using store bought curry paste just never tastes as good as restaurant curries.

There’s no denying that a made-from-scratch curry paste makes a difference. But you know what? The bigger factor is using store bought curry paste properly – freshening up the flavours by sautéing it with onion, garlic, ginger and chillies.

And the ultimate tip I have? KAFFIR LIME LEAVES. That is the key. They smell limey but are earthier, and when you plonk them into the sauce to simmer away, that is when the magic happens and you’ll make a curry that rivals a restaurant one.

I need to stop here. Otherwise I’ll write a thesis.

I really hope you try this. I can’t stress enough how delicious it is! Thick, creamy, EXTRA saucy with less calories. *Eyes fluttering* Thai curry heaven. – Nagi x

1 tbsp oil (vegetable, canola, grape seed)
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp ginger, minced (not critical)
½ - 1 tsp red chilli, minced (Optional. I used 1 tsp.)
1 small onion, sliced (brown, white, yellow) or 3 eschallots
1.2lb / 600g chicken thigh fillets (or breast), cut into bite size pieces
4 - 5 tbsp Thai Red Curry Paste (Note 1)
1 can (400ml/13oz) coconut milk (full fat is better but low fat is ok too)
¾ cup chicken broth
1 cup mango puree, preferably fresh (1 large mango) (Note 2)
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 kaffir lime leaves

Jasmine rice
Coriander/cilantro leaves
Lime wedges
Fresh red chili, sliced

Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
Add garlic, ginger, chilli (if using) and onion and saute until the onion is starting to soften.
Add chicken and cook until white all over but still raw inside.
Add curry paste and saute for 2 minutes until fragrant.
Add coconut milk and chicken broth. Bring to simmer, stirring to dissolve the curry paste into the liquid. Then add the mango, fish sauce and kaffir lime leaves.
Turn heat down to medium and simmer for 12 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened. Adjust saltiness using fish sauce.
Serve over jasmine rice, garnished with coriander/cilantro, wedges of lime and slices of red chilli, if desired.

Nutrition per serving assuming 4 servings using MANGO puree. Note: This curry is saucier than most Thai curry recipes you’ll find!

Nutrition per serving assuming 4 servings using only Coconut Milk per Note 3.

Hi Nagi Could I replace the chicken with fish?

Have cooked this several times with the chicken & is so delicious !!

Definitely! Just pop it in right at the end, fish doesn’t take long to cook 🙂 N x

Could I use beef instead of chicken? Any adjustments?

Hi Sonja! What cut of beef do you have? 🙂

I want to make this but only have beef, would that work too?

Yes! If it’s a slow cooking cut, simmer slowly until tender 🙂 What cut do you have?

Karen Ellem says

Can this Thai curry be made with frozen mango chunks pureed?

Or would it be better with fresh mangoes?

Hi Karen! Frozen is just fine for this 🙂 Hope you love it! N x

How spicy is the red paste you use? Using mango, does it make this overly sweet?

Hi Jax! Because it’s curry paste from a jar, it isn’t that spicy. And the mango doesn’t make it overly sweet, in fact, the mango replaces coconut milk which is why this is so much healthier than the usual red curries. And coconut milk is sweet too so the mango just replaces that sweetness!

This one looks wonderful. Can it be made a day or two ahead and reheated? Is this likely to improve the flavour? I’m having a dinner party with a number of dishes and was hoping to make this a day ahead in order to make life easier!

Yes! It keeps so well!

Malaysian Mango Chicken

Malaysian Mango Chicken recipe – It is an appetizing dish that will satisfy your tastebuds when you are in mood for something light and tangy.

Ingredients:

8 oz skinless and boneless chicken thigh (breast or leg), cut into bite-size pieces

2 tablespoons oil

1/2 small onion, quartered

1/2 small red bell pepper, cut into chunks

1/2 small green bell pepper, slivered into 1-inch lengths

1/2 medium ripe green mango, peeled, pitted and slivered

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 dash of black pepper

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2-3 tablespoons tomato puree, or tomato ketchup

2 tablespoon chili sauce (Lingham or Maggi)

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon A1 Steak sauce

1 teaspoon honey

2-3 tablespoons mango juice, pineapple juice, or water

1/2-1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, balsamic or black vinegar

sugar and salt to taste

2. Mix the Sauce ingredients in a bowl. Adjust sugar and other Sauce ingredients to your liking. Set sauce mixture aside.

3. Heat up a little oil in a wok, stir-fry onions, red and green bell peppers until fragrant and slightly charred. Dish up and set aside.

4. Heat up 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok, toss in marinated chicken pieces, mango slivers and give it a quick swirl for 1 minute or until the chicken gets a bit sticky on the wok. Cover wok and simmer on medium-high heat for another 2 minutes to draw the mango juice out.

5. Remove wok cover, add in the sauce mixture, stir well and bring it to a quick boil. Cover wok, turn heat to medium-low and let it simmer until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

6. Toss in items from step 3., stir well, salt and sugar to taste. Dish up and serve with steamed white rice.

Growing up in Malaysia, I was very much spoiled by all the exotic tropical fruit varieties. From the seasonal Durian ‘King of Fruits’ and Mangosteen, the mighty Queen, to mangoes that are amongst the royal fruits you will see everywhere throughout the year. Fruits are abundantly available, so much so that restaurants are always coming up with fresh new ideas to incorporate fruits into the local dishes, eg. Durian with sticky rice and fried fish with Dragon fruit sauce, just to name a few. Ripe mangoes are used to cook dishes like Mango Chicken, whereas fresh, unripened mangoes are used in most fruit salads, eg. Rojak. Ripe green mangoes impart a distinct sweet and tangy flavor to any chicken or shrimp dish, especially when rendered spicy.

Out of the three mango varieties that I am fond of, two were grown in our family garden. Apple Rumanis, sweet and tangy apple-shaped mangoes with a crunchy texture and Champagne / Honey Mangoes, aka Manila Mangoes, which are super sweet and juicy, and bigger than the kind found in the USA, roughly 5-6 inch long. Some of the best moments in my life were shared with my dad around the garden. I vividly remember how exciting it was during mango picking time when we couldn’t wait till we finished picking them and started peeling them off and enjoying them right under the trees. The third variety came from a tree that grew right outside our house and it bore green mangoes throughout the year for, much to the delight of any lucky passer-by. When those mangoes ripen, they emit a highly aromatic and unique scent and to this day, remain my personal favorite over the yellow kind. For those unripe mangoes, my folks would put them in a rice bucket, buried in the rice for a few days. Remember those days?

One of the most popular uses of mango in Malaysian cooking is in making Mango Chicken. And there are two delicious versions. The first one is more of a Thai influence using mango slivers with other shredded veges served with crispy chicken and a sweet spicy sauce. The other is a stir-fried version with chicken and mango slices. The latter style being the one more popular in the USA because it’s widely offered by most, if not all of the Malaysian restaurants here.

Unlike other sweet-sauced chicken dishes, eg. Sweet and Sour Chicken and Orange chicken, stir-fried Mango chicken does not use any frying batter. It is certainly an appetizing dish that will satisfy your tastebuds when you are in mood for something light and tangy. Just be sure to pick up a nice fresh, ripe or medium ripe mango, which I prefer. Let the mango work it’s magic. Simmer the mango until the juices surrender and you will definitely be on your way to a truly delicious Malaysian Mango dish!

REMEMBER TO SUBSCRIBE TO RASA MALAYSIA NEWSLETTER AND GET EASY AND DELICIOUS RECIPES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX. If you try my recipe, please use hashtag #rasamalaysia on social media so I can see your creations! Follow me on Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter for new recipes, giveaways and more.

MORE FAMILY-FRIENDLY RECIPES:

Chicken Satay

21 COMMENTS. read them below or add one

The color on that lovely mango chicken is just gorgeous and it looks so flavorfully tempting!! Love it

Looks like a lovely sweet-salty combination. Hmmm…wonder if durian chicken would work? hehe.

Susie Borromeo Milne via Facebook

I found your cookbook in a bookstore in Manila…I was thrilled to be able to buy it!

Holy yum! That looks delish and your reference to sticky rice, rojak etc got me drooling :D

This sounds delicious. My favorite fruit is mango and I’ve definitely never tried it this way. :)

I just love Mangoes ! I must try this Malaysian version of Mango Chicken. I love Malaysian food, and enjoyed it in a previous visit to Penang. Thanks for sharing this recipe!

I’ve never come across Malaysian Mango chicken before. Is it a common dish in Penang? I’m keen to try it though, the combination of sweet sour and spicy is tempting my taste buds!

Mango Chicken is more commonly served in KL than in Penang, it was pretty much made famous back in the 90s’.

that makes sense. I lived on Penang for three years in the 70s and never heard of mango chicken.

Mmmmm very nice indeed. Looks very similar to a recipe that i used to cook often Brazilian Chicken style. I will try to get a nice mangos in Brighton Asian market, and then I´ll which I prefer. thanks!

This is something that I could prepare for my kids to introduce them to malaysian cuisine.

Ohh this looks fantastic with a bowl of rice ;) I like mangos in savoury dishes hehe

This is such a gorgeous dish, Bee! The dish looks deliciously colorful and would brighten up a dull day. I’m sure it tastes DIVINE!

This is exactly what I want now…

Trust me this dish is making me drool like crazy…

A bowl of rice with this mango chicken and I”ll not ask for anything else…

hey, this looks DE-licious! How much does it serve?

Thanks! For me, its good enough for 2 persons. Then again, it really depends on your appetite:)

Am I missing something in this recipe? The marinade has no liquid ingredient listed. I’ve never made a marinade that didn’t have any liquid. Please let me know.

I made this for dinner tonight, and I inadvertantly added too much chili sauce and too much oyster sauce. Is there a way to fix the sauce? It is too spicy and has a slighy fishy taste from the oyster sauce. I was making extra since I feed 2 teenage boys, and miscounted/misjudged my measurements. Thanks!

I am totally confused by this :”ripe green mango”. Is that a special kind of mango ? It can’t be ripe + green as far as I know. It’s either ripe or green. If it’s just an unripened mango how hard should it be ? I have read that there are different kinds of mango from Mexico or from Asian countries. Does the place of origin make a difference or do they taste mostly the same ? I need some help ! Thanks.

Curry Rezepte Sri Lanka: Curry-Huhn mit Mango Chutney

4 Hühner-Brüste (ca. 400g) in kleine Stücke geschnitten

1 kleine Zwiebel grob gehackt

1 rote Paprika in Streifen geschnitten

2 kleine rote Chilis (getrocknet und gemahlen)

100ml cremiger Joghurt ungesüßt oder Kokoscreme

2 TL Currypulver

½ TL schwarzen Pfeffer

Erst dann den Joghurt bzw. die Kokoscreme einrühren und langsam erhitzen, nicht aufkochen!

Servieren Sie mit Reis, und würzen Sie nach Belieben mit Salz, schwarzem Pfeffer, Kokosflocken und gehackten Ernüssen.

Weitere Curry-Rezepte aus Sri Lanka:

Miri's Kitchen

Dienstag, 18. Juni 2013

Wrap mit Hähnchen und Curry-Mango-Sauce

Alles in allem fand ich, dass die Sauce sehr gut schmeckt und auch die Zutatenliste kann man ohne Chemiestudium lesen. Was mich allerdings ein wenig gestört hat war, dass Milcheiweiß in der Sauce enthalten war, sodass mein Mann nichts davon essen konnte. Leider ist das ein häufiges Problem. In vielen Produkten sind Milchbestandteile enthalten, sodass Menschen mit Laktoseintoleranz oder einer Milcheiweißallergie oder auch einfach Veganer diese Produkte nicht essen können. Das ist nicht nur schade, sondern eigentlich auch überflüssig, weil ich mir sicher bin, dass die Sauce auch ohne Milcheiweiß sehr gut schmecken würde. Aber Nicht-Veganern und Nicht-Allergikern kann ich die Sauce empfehlen.

Nun aber zum Rezept für einen leckeren, sommerlichen, erfrischenden Wrap.

Für eine Person:

1 TL Currypulver

1 Wrap (ich habe einen mit Leinsamen verwendet)

Ein paar Salatblätter

Etwas rote Paprika, in Würfel geschnitten

Etwas frische Mango, geschält und in Würfel geschnitten

1 Lauchzwiebel, in feine Ringe geschnitten

Etwas Curry-Mango-Sauce (oder 50ml Curry-Mango-Sauce vermischt mit 50ml Kokosnussmilch und kurz aufgekocht)

Kommentare:

Eine schöne Aktion! Die Sauce klingt lecker! Auch wenn ich natürlich meistens frisch koche - ab und zu habe ich auch nichts gegen ein Fertigprodukt. Deine Wraps sehen sehr lecker aus! Sonnige Grüße, Ann-Katrin

Dankeschön, freut mich, wenn dir meine Idee gefällt.

Da komme ich doch mal auf deinen schönen Balkon und ich erkläre mich auch bereit die Soße zu testen.

Sieht echt lecker aus.

Hihi, die gibts dann am Samstag, gell?

Ja, das können wir gerne machen. wir freuen uns.

Pineapple-Mango Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups undrained crushed pineapple
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 medium mangoes, peeled and chopped
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 ounces each)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Hot cooked rice

Directions

Nutritional Facts

1 chicken breast with 2/3 cup sauce (calculated without rice): 350 calories, 4g fat (1g saturated fat), 78mg cholesterol, 369mg sodium, 52g carbohydrate (46g sugars, 4g fiber), 30g protein.

1-1/2 cups undrained crushed pineapple
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 medium mangoes, peeled and chopped
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 ounces each)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Hot cooked rice

In a small saucepan, combine the first five ingredients; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 4-6 minutes or until sauce is thickened and raisins are plumped, stirring occasionally. Stir in mangoes; heat through. Set aside.
Moisten a paper towel with cooking oil; using long-handled tongs, lightly coat the grill rack. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 in. from the heat for 5-8 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 170°. Serve with sauce and rice. Yield: 4 servings.

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Reviews for Pineapple-Mango Chicken

Average Rating

"I used fresh pineapple, and some added juice and added mushrooms and sweet peppers and it was delicious!"

"My family absolutely loved this! I omitted the golden raisins because I didn't have any, and I served it over white rice. easy and delicious!"

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Mango curry hähnchen

Hähnchen-Mango-Curry für kalte Tage

Kommentare:

Me parece una idea fantastica, Alice! Pollo y patata. que mas se puede pedir? SEHR LECKER! Grusse!

Das sieht sehr lecker aus.. eins meiner Lieblingsgerichte :)

Würde mich freuen, wenn du mal bei mir vorbei schaust.

Lg Jasmin (jkochundback.blogspot.de)

Klingt sehr nach meinem Geschmack! Und auch noch so schön bunt, nur die Mango lasse ich weg, die ist nicht meins. :-)

One-Pot Coconut-Chicken Curry from The Cookie Editors

Here's a recipe, and a few more thoughts on this book, which is honestly just as good for busy singles as harried mommies.

I see many, many books every year that promise quicker, easier cooking. (Quick! Fast! 30-minute meals!) My tolerance of these books reached a limit long ago; they often feel dumbed-down and slightly disingenuous in their promises of ever-quicker meals.

This book, though, doesn't fall into that camp. It's a lavishly-illustrated, colorful, yet compact book separated into seven sections, which should give you an idea of its approach:

The Family Kitchen.

If I Could Just Make It To Wednesday.

I Want Something Simple, Fast And Hard to Screw Up.

I Want To Have a Family Dinner Where We All Eat the Same Meal.

Do Sandwiches Count?

I Want To Use What I Already Have.

Let's All Have a Playdate.

See how great those are? I ask those questions all the time, and I don't even have kids! The answers to those questions range from ultra-simple instructions and recipes for attractively-photographed flank steak and braised pork, to simple marinara, Swedish meatballs, and creamy chicken with shallots (pictured with a plastic kid's fork on the plate!).

The charm in this book is not necessarily original recipes. There are lots and lots of basics in here that you can find elsewhere. The advantage is having them all collected in one place for easy, inspiring access on a busy day. And for all their simplicity, these recipes do not talk down to the cook. They are bright, encouraging, and delicious to look at.

One of my favorite clusters of recipes comes in the "Hard to Screw Up" part of the book. There's whole-wheat spaghetti with fried onions and bread crumbs (hello! delicious!) followed by a great little section of "muffin-tin meals" — potato chip frittatas, and gorditas, for instance. Then we move into ice cube-tray sushi. (How fun!)

The book is chock-full of fun, simple, and delicious ideas like these that will appeal to moms, dads, kids, singles, and couples. This is a great little book for impromptu weeknight inspiration. I highly recommend it.

• Find the book: Time for Dinner: Strategies, Inspiration, and Recipes for Family Meals Every Night of the Week, by Pilar Guzmán, Jenny Rosenstrach, and Alanna Stang. Published by Chronicle Books (September 2010). $16.47 at Amazon.

Madras curry powder is a nice starter curry for kids—it's mild but still has a good range of flavors.

1 pound chicken tenders (preferably kosher)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 small onion, peeled and chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 tablespoons madras curry powder

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup coconut milk

1 large Granny Smith apple, cut into small chunks

assorted toppings: roasted cashews or peanuts, fresh mango chunks, toasted coconut, chopped scallions, raisins

active time: 25 minutes

total time: 30 minutes

1. Season the chicken with the salt; set aside. Over medium-high heat, warm the oil in a wide, shallow saucepan or small Dutch oven.

2. Sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger for 2 minutes. Add the curry powder, coriander, and cumin and cook, stirring, until fragrant, another minute or two.

3. Add the broth and coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes to thicken. Add the chicken and apple and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with rice and whatever toppings you like.

(Images and recipe courtesy of Chronicle Books)

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Categorized | “Chicken”

Ultimate Curry Chicken?

Posted on 08 January 2010

A few months back I came across a wonderful video online of a fellow Trinbagonian living in the US who created a cooking video called “The Ultimate Curry Chicken” and though his method and ingredients of cooking curry chicken was a bit different than mine, I’m sure it was just as tasty. If you’ve watched my introduction video (click on “About” above) you’ll know that curry is not one of the things we grew up on and only years later when I moved to Canada and lived with my aunt, did I really start eating it. Don’t get me wrong, our mom is an excellent cook when it comes to anything curry, it’s just we didn’t have it as often. I’ve been lucky enough to have my mom close (about 1 hour away) the past few years, so over this time I’ve taken her recipe and made some slight changes to call it my own. BTW if you’re in the Toronto area and you’re looking to have some food catered (Trini dishes), be sure to contact me and I’ll not only get you some amazing food, but I’ll even hook you up with a nice discount. I’m not in the catering business, but my sister is and it seems she’s doing an amazing job with the rate her business is growing.

3/4 tablespoon salt

dash black pepper

1/4 hot pepper (scotch bonnet, habanero or any hot pepper you like) *Optional.

heaping tablespoon curry powder (madras)

1/4 teaspoon roasted Geera (powder)

1 medium tomato diced

1 medium onion sliced

2 cloves garlic sliced

2 + 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Juice of 1 lime or lemon

1 1/2 cups water

6 tablespoons water (to cook curry)

* I usually use dark meat (with bones) when cooking curry as I find that the overall taste of the finished dish is more tasty. However the recipe works just as well with white meat (may be a bit dry though)

* Since shado beni is not readily available to us in the city where I live (and I can’t grow it) I usually get some shipped to me and immediately after I get it, it goes into my freezer. Then whenever I’m cooking I break off a few leaves to add to my dish. So if you can get access to some at your local store, remember that freezing is also an option if you get a large package. I also find that the frozen leaves holds more flavour than if you were to puree the leaves as we do with green seasoning mix.

* If you don’t have the green seasoning the recipe calls for, feel free to use about a tablespoon of each of the following (chopped):

* Spanish thyme would also be a good addition if you can get access to it.

* In the recipe you notice that I cooked the frozen shado beni with the onions before adding the curry. If you’re using fresh shado beni you’ll get better results if you season the chicken with it, rather than cooking it as I did. If you don’t have any shado beni, you can also substitute cilantro for it (add about 2-3 tablespoon chopped to the seasoned chicken)

I got a package of chicken legs with back attached, so this means I had to cut it into serving size pieces before I could get started. After I cut the chicken into pieces it was placed in a bowl with some water and the juice of the lime (see ingredients above) to be washed. I then drained out the water and squeezed it as dry as I could.

The next step is to season the chicken and allow it to marinate for a couple hours. Add the salt, black pepper, tomato, green seasoning, and scallion (chopped) to the bowl with the chicken and stir so everything gets coated.

After it’s been marinating for a couple hrs, it’s time to start cooking. In a fairly large pan, heat the oil (2 tablespoon) on high heat and get prepared to add the sliced onions, garlic and hot pepper. Allow this to cook for a few minutes until the onions go soft and start to go a bit brown. I then turn the heat to medium and add a few leaves of the frozen shado beni to the pot followed by the curry and geera (cumin) and stir. You may notice that the pot is “dry”, this is when I add another tablespoon of oil to the pot so nothing sticks. The next step is to add the 6 tablespoons of water, turn the heat down and allow this to cook for a couple minutes. This will bring out the true aroma of the curry.

As the liquid burns off it’s time to start adding the pieces of seasoned chicken to the pot. Turn the heat back up to high and stir each piece so it get’s in contact with the cooked curry. After you’ve added all the seasoned chicken, turn the heat to medium-low and cover the pot.

You’ll notice that the chicken will spring it’s own juices, so after 15 minutes remove the lid and turn the heat up to high. We’ll now burn off that liquid. As the liquid burns off from the pot (make sure you keep stirring) you’ll see nothing but a bit of oil at the bottom with a sort of curry paste (this is the good stuff).

In the same bowl you seasoned the chicken add the 1 1/2 cups of water so we can pick up any remaining seasoning that was left behind. Now add the water from the bowl to the pot to continue the cooking process.

Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer with the pot covered (stir occasionally). After 20 minutes, remove the cover and check the sauce or gravy to see if it’s the consistency you like. Usually I have to turn the heat up a bit to reduce the curry sauce as I like it a bit thick.

I’m sure many of you may have a different way of making curry chicken or as our friends from Guyana say “chicken curry” , so I encourage you to share you method with us in the comments box below this post. Don’t forget to also join us on facebook below:

40 Responses to “Ultimate Curry Chicken?”

Can I ask which Mandaras curry you use

When making the curry do you have to use green seasoning also what is shado beni

It’s also known as recato or culantro in the states. It’s a long leaf using sold in bundles.