Tag Archives: curry

Cooking attempt #2017-01 – Sweet Chicken Curry

The Writing Life of a Tadpole
January 5 2017

As part of my goals for the year, I made a list of a bunch of different recipes that I want to try out. From that list, I prioritized a few (a precursor to my Level 1 settings in my goals), and Jacob made the first selection to try — a Sweet Chicken Curry in the Crock Pot / slow cooker (Sweet Chicken Curry (in a slow cooker) (REC0005)) from a diet cookbook. We gave it a go on New Years Day.

It is a relatively easy recipe. Only four ingredients to prep (chicken, a bell pepper, an onion and a tomato), throw them all into a crockpot. Combine four more in a bowl and pour on top. The big ingredient (besides chicken and curry) is in this step — mango chutney!

I confess I couldn’t even find it in the grocery store. I looked in with the pickles and things (condiments generally), nope. Tried breakfast spreads, nope. Somewhere near baking aisle I found some other fruity things, nope. Finally asked. Of course, I’m adding it to a curry recipe like a glaze, so it was where it should be — with the Asian groceries.

Anyway, all combined, it looks like this:

We cooked it 4.5 hours (it suggested 3.5 to 4.5), and then it looked like this:

I figured the result would be at least edible — how far wrong can you go with 8 ingredients, including three veggies and some chicken? But it was the “sweet” mango chutney that made this amazing. I immediately started wondering what else I could put it on…maybe some pork like a glaze for baking. It really is awesome. And listed at just over 300 calories per serving.

Thumbs up from me, Jacob and Andrea…can’t ask for more than that in trying out new recipes.

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Sweet Chicken Curry (PWR00005)

The Writing Life of a Tadpole
January 5 2017

Description

This was an adaptation from a diet recipe book for slow cookers, and was a pretty easy recipe (particularly using the slow cooker, but also just the limited number of items to chop / dice / slice). And the mango chutney is really the key to the sweet taste. I wasn’t a big fan of chutney before, but it is awesome here.

  • Type of Meal: Dinner
  • Genre: Slow cooker, Asian
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Yields: 4 servings
  • Time:
    • Preparation time: 20 minutes
    • Cooking time: 4.5 hours
  • Rating: 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪️

Ingredients

  • 1 lb / .5 kg boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 large green or red bell pepper
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 large tomato
  • 1/2 cup mango chutney
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1.5 tbsp curry powder
  • Hot cooked rice

Sous-Chef Preparations

  1. Chop the boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 lb / .5 kg) into 1-inch pieces.
  2. Chop the bell pepper (1 green or red) into 1-inch pieces.
  3. Slice the large onion (1).
  4. Seed and chop the large tomato (1).
  5. In a small or medium bowl, combine the mango chutney (1/2 cup), water (1/3 cup), cornstarch (2 tbsp) and curry powder (1.5 tbsp).

Main preparations

  1. Place the chopped chicken, chopped bell pepper, and sliced onion in the slow cooker and mix it together well.
  2. Add the tomato on top, evenly distributed.
  3. Pour the chutney sauce evenly over all the ingredients already in the slow cooker.
  4. Cover, cook on low for 3.5 to 4.5 hours or until the chicken is tender.
  5. Serve over rice.

Variations/Notes

  • You could experiment with different chutneys for different flavours.
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Green Curry Chicken (PWR00001)

The Writing Life of a Tadpole
January 4 2015

Description

This is one of my favourite dishes, compliments of a cooking course through the local public school board. I have rated it “moderate-to-high” for the level of difficulty but that is a bit misleading. The individual steps are not particularly difficult, nor is the sequencing, but there are a large number of detailed steps (including sous-chef preparations) and it takes a long time to prep and cook it; it is definitely not a “quick weeknight meal”. I have also rated it “mild” for spice, and I do not have a particularly high threshold.

  • Type of Meal: Dinner
  • Genre: Thai
  • Difficulty: Moderate to High
  • Yields: 4-6 servings
  • Time:
    • Preparation time: 40 minutes
    • Cooking time: 60 minutes
  • Rating: 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪️

Ingredients

  • 1 eggplant (or egg pea plant)
  • 3 shallots (or small onions)
  • 3 kaffir leaves, including stems
  • Handful of green beans
  • 3 white potatoes, medium-sized
  • 2 lb / 1 kg boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 4 tbsp vegetable cooking oil
  • 50g / 2 tbsp green curry paste, about half of a small jar (or about 250ml of green curry sauce)
  • 2 tbsp coriander root
  • 1 tsp galangal powder
  • 1 tbsp ground lemongrass
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tsp cumin seed
  • 1 tsp red curry powder
  • Salt and pepper (to taste)
  • 5 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)
  • 1-1.5 cups of rice (preferably long-grain, white jasmine)
  • 800 ml coconut milk, thick (2 medium cans)
  • Green leaf basil (for garnish, as desired)

Sous-Chef Preparations

  1. Chop the eggplant (1) into bite-sized pieces.
  2. Chop the shallots / small onions (3) into small pieces.
  3. Dice the kaffir leaves (3).
  4. Chop the garlic clove (1) into small pieces.
  5. Slice the green beans (handful) into 4 cm lengths.
  6. Peel and chop the white potatoes (3) into bite-sized pieces.
  7. Cut the chicken breasts (2 lb/1 kg, boneless + skinless) into bite-sized pieces.

Main preparations

  1. Stir-fry the chopped eggplant (with salt) in vegetable oil (2 tbsp) over medium heat for 5 minutes or until it turns green. Set aside.
  2. Bring a non-stick pot to hot, add 2 tbsp oil. Add the chopped shallots/onions and diced kaffir leaves. Stir until fragrant.
  3. Make a well in the centre of the mixture. Add the green curry paste (2tbsp), coriander root (2 tbsp), galangal powder (1 tsp), ground lemongrass (1 tbsp), chopped garlic (1 clove), cumin seed (1 tsp), red curry powder (1 tsp), salt and pepper (to taste), fish sauce (5 tbsp), and palm/brown sugar (1 tbsp). Mix it together.
  4. Add the partially-cooked eggplant (previously set aside), chopped potatoes, and chopped chicken. Stir well for 3 minutes.
  5. Optional: Start cooking the jasmine rice, if desired.
  6. Add the coconut milk (xxx), let it boil. Simmer until the sauce thickens, and the chicken and vegetables are cooked.
  7. Stir in the sliced green beans. Let it boil for 3 minutes.
  8. Garnish with the green leaf basil, as desired.
  9. Serve hot with the jasmine rice.

Variations/Notes

  • Alternate ingredients/steps are shown above in blue italics.
  • If you want a thicker sauce: Add more potatoes.
  • If you want to use bone-in chicken legs: Remove the fat, sprinkle some salt on the skin, and rub it in. Rinse and dry it, and then cut into bite-sized pieces. Add the chicken at step 9 with the kaffir leaves and shallots, and cook for 6 minutes or until brown. Remove any fat in the bottom of the pan by draining it with the lid. Then continue with step 10 (“make a well…”).
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