Chicken Curry

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The other day, Kris messaged me at work and asked if I could teach him how to make my family’s Chicken Curry recipe.

This family favourite (and just about everyone else’s’ as well) came to us through an old boyfriend of my Aunt’s in the 70s. His father was Indian, and one of the head chefs for Via Rail, so he knew how to cook! My grandmother, being the least shy person on the planet, asked for it, and our family has been making it ever since.


The trick with this recipe isn't so much in the ingredients as it is in the cooking. Your timing needs to be just right on certain parts. We've never really made it exactly the same twice. Over the years we've had fun enhancing it and modifying to our tastes until it became the “go to” for curing the winter blues, healing the sick, mending a broken heart or just bringing the family together.

I’m happy to say that Kris’ first batch turned out delicious (with my supervision of course). I made some Jeera rice as well since I wasn't on curry duty, to really enhance the meal; I’ll include the quick recipe for that as well:


Chicken Curry Recipe (Serves 6)
Ingredients:
  • 3 tbs flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne powder (double or triple for spice!)
  • 2 tbs curry power
  • 1/4 lb butter (or use oil as needed for each step
  • 2 tbs lemon juice
  • 3 lbs chicken (cubed)
  • 3 chopped onions
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 1/2 cup cream
  • 1 tbs tomato paste
  • Grapes (halved) and apples (cubed) to taste.

Directions:

 1) Combine salt, flour, cayenne and curry. Coat the meat with the mix and set aside.



2) Over medium-high heat, heat 1 1/2 TBS of butter in pan. Sauté onions and garlic. Add remaining butter and sear meat.


3) While searing the meat, you're trying to get the spice coating to stick to the bottom of the pan, but not BURN on the bottom of the pan. It's very important to keep stirring at a consistent pace until the pan is coated with browning, and the meat appears cooked on outside. If the browning isn't sticking, turn up the heat a bit. 


4) Remove the meat and add the beef broth. Bring to a boil, scrapping up the drippings. Once done, return the meat and vegetables. Add cream and tomato paste. Cover and Simmer 30 minutes

5) Add lemon juice, apple and grapes. Cover and simmer for an hour. (Recently, we've started adding just a 1/4 cup of apple juice instead of apple chunks. delicious!) - once it's simmering, start your rice!


6) Serve over Basmati rice, or if you're feeling ambitious, Jeera rice! (recipe below)

You're done! I like to serve curry in share able bowls with naan on the side. Something about sharing from the same central area makes the experience more fun, especially on date night! Also don't forget your favourite beer, wouldn't be a delicious curry meal without it ;)



Yumm!
Jeera Rice:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Basmati rice
  • 2 tsp cardamom pods
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • pinch of cinnamon 
Directions:

1) Soak rice in cold water to remove additional starch from outside (approx 20-30 minutes). Once soaked, move on to step 2.

2) In medium sauce pan, add cardamom pods, cumin and cinnamon with a dash of olive oil and cook over medium-high heat to release flavours. Strain rice and put into pan with spices and mix.

3) Pour 2 cups water into pan, increase heat to high and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and let sit until water is dissolved.

4) Remove from heat, let sit 5 minutes then fluff with fork before serving.