Coconut Curry Chicken

One lesson I have learned growing up in a “brown” home is to never underestimate the comfort a curry can bring you. Every south-Asian family has their version of curry, sometimes multiple, and each one is delicious in its own way.

Coconut is one of my favorite flavors and I feel it is so under-utilized so when I was working on my ideal curry recipe I decided to base it around coconut milk. This recipe is brimming with flavor thanks to all the spices, comes together quickly and it’s amazingly hearty when you pair i with rice or fluffy bread. Enjoy!

PREP TIME: 5 minutes l COOK TIME: 25 minutes l TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes 

Ingredients

• 1 ½lb chicken breast, cubed

  • you can also replace the chicken with 2 cups of mixed vegetables cut into bite size pieces for a vegetarian version!

• ½ white onion, small diced

• ½ cup frozen peas

• 1 carrot, julienned (cut into thin, long strips)

• 2 gloves of garlic, grated

• 1 inch of ginger, grated

• 1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 tablespoon curry powder

• 2 dried red chilies, ground to a powder (you can start with 1 and adjust to your taste if you don’t want too much heat)

• ½ teaspoon black pepper

• ½ teaspoon turmeric

• 13 oz. coconut milk (one can)

• 1 tablespoon peanut butter (optional)

• ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted

• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

• ½ cup water

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

• Salt, to taste

• 1 scallion, cut on a bias (garnish)

Directions

Makes: 4 servings

1.     Prepare all your vegetables first, toast your coconut flakes and set aside to add in throughout the cooking process.

2.     In a large pot, sauté together the garlic, ginger and onion in the vegetable oil. Cook the mix on medium heat until the onion become slightly soft.

3.     Bring the heat down to low and add in the cumin, curry, chili powder, turmeric; cook until the spices become fragrant.

4.     Add in the chicken, bring the heat up to high and brown chicken on both sides.

5.     Once both sides of the chicken are brown, add in the black pepper, salt, coconut milk, peanut butter. Stir the mix and scrape up any spices stuck to the bottom of the pan; the brown bits at the bottom add tons of flavor to the curry.

6.     Lower the heat, partially cover the mix and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

7.     Prepare a cornstarch slurry by mixing together ½ cup of water with the cornstarch in a separate bowl.

8.     After 10 minutes, stir in the frozen peas, carrots and corn starch slurry.

9.     Allow the peas to warm through, this shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, and serve with white rice or some fluffy bread.

Don’t forget to add the toasted coconut flakes and scallions on top!