# Looking for an Easy Curry Chicken Recipe



## little_spoon (Dec 1, 2011)

I am looking for an easy curry chicken recipe.  I want to use a mild curry powder, and I want as few steps and ingredients as possible.  I'm looking for a recipe with at least 8 servings.  

I hope this is possible.  I saw a chef on Food Network cooking curry chicken, and it looked delicious.  I just can't find the recipe!

Thanks in advance!


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## Meliscious (Dec 1, 2011)

I know how to make Jamaican style curry chicken. It's really easy : )

You can use any kind of chicken cut into small pieces. Bone-in or out is up to you. I like the nutrition from the marrow so I usually leave the bones in and chop the pieces up with a cleaver. You can keep the skin on or remove it. Sometimes I reduce the amount of oil if I leave the skin and fat on.

We get a lot of our spices from asian or hispanic grocery stores. They usually carry cellophane bags of spices and we refill old spice jars or keep them in labeled baby food jars. They are usually 1 dollar each compared to 5 dollars and up for some spices at regular stores.

1 large or 2 medium starchy veggies -  Potato, yam, sweet potato or cassava (yucca)
2 carrots
1 medium onion or 2 scallions
chicken - at least 1 lb.
2 T. oil - coconut if available, margarine, butter or vegetable oil is fine also
allspice - powdered or in balls
curry powder
garlic - fresh, powder or flakes
ginger - fresh or powdered

(optional) 
greens - collard, kale, mustard
browning sauce - a t. of sauce (if you can find it - super-walmart usually carries a brand called kitchen bouquet in the spices near the gravy flour and cornstarch, or you can use a little liquid smoke)

Peel and slice the starchy veggies into bite sized pieces. Chop the onion or scallion and peeled carrot. Put the veggies and chicken in a large pot with the spices and oil. I usually use at least a couple T of the curry. You can adjust the amount for your own preference. I usually use about a T. of garlic if fresh and about a t. if powdered. Add the ginger - 1 t. powdered or peel and grate a 1" piece - take the stringy fibrous parts out and use the grated bits and the juice. Add the allspice - 6-8 balls or 1 t. If you like greens, chop them into fine pieces and add for added nutrition.

Add enough water to cover the top of the mixture. Bring to a boil and then cook on medium low til the vegetables are tender and the meat takes on a yellowish tone. Usually about 30-45 minutes. If the liquid cooks out add more water as needed so it doesnt scald to the bottom of the pan. It will cook down until the water, vegetable starch, oil and meat juices make a thick gravy. Add salt to taste.

We usually eat curry chicken with plain rice or rice and peas (red beans and rice with coconut milk).


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## little_spoon (Dec 1, 2011)

Meliscious,
Thanks for this recipe! Looks simple enough for me!

Can I make this recipe without veggies if I want?


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## taxlady (Dec 1, 2011)

Just to clarify, cassava is not this kind of yucca:


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## Meliscious (Dec 2, 2011)

You can make it with just meat but I would double the amount of meat you use or cut down on the spices. The thickness of the sauce is partly because of the vegetable starch so you might want to use a little bit of flour mixed with cold water to thicken it at the end.

Thats a YUCA plant not yucca root. LOL I don't know anyone who uses decorative plants from their yard for cooking so im not sure what the point of the pic was but any produce person at the grocery store can point out the cassava to you if they have it. Most western people call it yucca or yucca root because the hispanic term for it is more common than the caribbean and african term. Polynesian people call it taro root.


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## taxlady (Dec 2, 2011)

The point of the picture was in case anyone else was confused. It sure as heck confused me. And it's the cassava that is spelled "yuca", not the desert plant - it's the one spelled "yucca".

It may be decorative, but so are peach trees. We had decorative strawberry plants and we certainly ate those strawberries.


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## Bolas De Fraile (Dec 2, 2011)

Handi Murgh made with thighs or drumsticks this is based on 4 so its easy to adjust 

4 thighs
1 tbls of ghee or clarified butter
4 cloves of garlic chopped
2" piece of ginger grated
2 tbls curry paste ( add veg oil to make paste)
1 tbls tom purree
8oz finely chopped onion
5oz chopped toms
1 tsp dried mint
1tbls chopped fresh coriander.

Heat the ghee in a pan, add the garlic fry for 1 min, add the ginger fry for 1 min, add C/paste and tom puree and fry till it sizzles, add the onion and fry for about 5 mins, add  just enough chicken stock to make a gravy not soup, stir well to free off any stuck bits, add the chicken when the gravy is bubbling reduce heat and simmer for 20 mins turning a few times, add toms,mint, coriander, simmer for 10 mins.Season

This is really a standard gravy you can add steamed left over turkey or chicken cubes when you reach the gravy stage but only simmer for five mins before moveing on to add the toms ect, you can add chillies and black pepper to increase the heat.
Lemon juice, a bit of brown sugar and some cooked lentils with some of the lentil water to make dhansak.


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## Timothy (Dec 2, 2011)

Bolas De Fraile said:


> Handi Murgh made with thighs or drumsticks this is based on 4 so its easy to adjust
> 
> 4 thighs
> 1 tbls of ghee or clarified butter
> ...


 
Thanks Bolas, that recipe made my mouth water like crazy! Yum City!


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## slett (Dec 2, 2011)

Simple & easy.  Here we go.

Heat a large, deep skillet with some veg oil or ghee if you have it.
Add a med chopped white onion, a scoop of minced garlic.
Add 1-2lbs of boneless chicken breasts or thighs or both and heat till cooked flipping & stirring occasionally.
Stir in 1-1/2 tablespoons of yellow curry powder or Caribbean curry powder
Add 1/4 cup of white wine or chicken stock & stir to de glaze the pan.
Add 1 can of coconut milk.
Add 1 cup of frozen green beans & a bit of chopped spinach, cilantro or corriander whatever your taste.
Simmer for 20 min or so stirring occasionally.
Add some chopped red pepper for the last 5 min if you like.  adds nice color and good crispy bits.

Serve over rice.  I like basmati with it.


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## Chava64 (Dec 17, 2011)

This sounds amazing. I make a chicken curry stew that is similar to this but with a Dahl and Greek yogurt.


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## Caslon (Dec 17, 2011)

This is about as simple as it gets:

I take chicken legs and strip the meat off them. Then I coat the pieces with some curry powder and saute the chicken in a little oil.  I saute some sliced onions and boil up some green peas and microwave some sliced celery until tender. I cook up some rice and add a pat of butter and also add curry powder (lots).

Into the bowl of curried rice goes the chicken, onions, peas and cut up celery.  Very simple and delicious.


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## little_spoon (Dec 19, 2011)

Excellent recipes from everyone! All of them sound delicious and look easy.  It looks like everyone has their own version - nice.  I definitely have to print these out!

Is there a particular curry powder that you like or prefer?  I'm looking for a mild curry powder.

Thank you so much for the help.  Happy Holidays to everyone!


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## Caslon (Dec 19, 2011)

I buy McCormick Gourmet Collection Curry Powder.  They make a spicer one, but I buy the regular curry powder.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 19, 2011)

I'm surprised there are no Thai curry recipes here. Perhaps I'm the only one who likes Thai curries. Honestly I prefer Thai curry to anything Indian. How do they differ? I'm no expert. Indian curry recipes I've seen often use curry powder and yogurt, Thai recipes often use a paste you make or buy canned, and use coconut milk as the liquid. But what about other cultures? Here's a Thai curry recipe and I'll I'll follow it with French inspired pork chops with curried cream sauce.

Thai curries:

This is not a recipe, just an idea. Chop up your choice of pork, chicken, beef or shrimp before cooking. (Other ingredients are suggested _mise in place_ but I'll leave the details to you.) Saute some diced/minced garlic and shallots until limp but not browned, then pour in coconut milk, or even better coconut cream (either, canned, try to use a Thai brand). Important: add in some canned curry paste, I recommend Maesri brand red, yellow, green or whatever type of paste you want (product of Thailand).. Add some _nam pla_ (fish sauce), recommended Cock brand (also a product of Thailand). Separately take a few stalks of lemon grass, peel them a bit, slice lengthwise, place between a few sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a mallet until mashed, then uncover and chop with a knife to ensure it's finely mixed, add to your simmering curry. (You will throw away the tough upper stems.) Throw in a few Kaffir lime leaves and squeeze some lime juice over. You can add some lemon zest if you can't resist it (I can't). Add the meat or seafood, simmer until it's done and then serve over steamed jasmine rice. I'm sorry if this recipe is incomplete or inexact. I don't make an intellectual exercise out of this, nor do I stick to any measurements or ingredient list. Throw some vegetables in with that, perhaps some Thai eggplants, sliced cucumbers, sliced brown onions, etc. (If you add vegetables be sure to add them early enough in the process to get them cooked to tenderness.) Perhaps I'll post more definite recipes at some future date.

Braised pork chops with pineapple curry sauce:

This isn't exactly on topic but I'd like to share it anyway. Sprinkle some pork chops with a fair amount of curry powder, then saute them in olive oil until browned (turning only once). Use pineapple rings canned in pineapple juice, place a pineapple ring on each pork chop. Fill the center of each ring with about a teaspoon of brown sugar, then pour over the juice from the pineapples, and then pour over a fair amount of sweet Marsala wine, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes until tender, Important!!!: adding more Marsala to keep the chops partly covered in liquid. Remove the chops and pineapple rings, keep warm in oven. Deglaze your pan juices with whipping cream (or other cream) to make a sauce, then serve pork chops topped by pineapple rings covered by the cream sauce. Recommend to serve with brown rice and a vegetable. (Detailed recipe here.)

So I hope I haven't gone too far off topic. I thought a Thai curry should at least be represented, and I hope that anybody who likes curry would like the French(ish) style of pork chops with a curry cream sauce.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 20, 2011)

I forgot to include on the Thai curry recipe, add some Thai basil leaves before serving. It would also be good to add some thinly sliced Thai chili peppers (or other small chili peppers). I would have edited my post but evidently the edit window has closed.

I really like Thai basil. It tastes somewhat like ordinary basil but has a slight anise overtone, and the leaves are small and pointy, unlike ordinary basil. Just use the regular kind if you can't get Thai basil.

I hope I'm not the only one who likes Thai cooking and Thai curries. I suspect most forum members are probably more familiar with Indian curries.


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## Steve Kroll (Dec 20, 2011)

Gourmet Greg said:


> I hope I'm not the only one who likes Thai cooking and Thai curries. I suspect most forum members are probably more familiar with Indian curries.


No, you're not the only one.


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## Steve Kroll (Dec 20, 2011)

I love curries and there was almost an entire year where my wife and I had a weekly "curry night" and challenged ourselves to try a different curry every week. It isn't as hard to do as you might think. In Asian cultures, there is a lot of variety from one region to the next. This is especially true in India and the surrounding countries, where each region has its own specialties (not all curries). Some are based around yogurt, but others use tomatoes, coconut, and even cream as the base. The most difficult part is having all of the spices on hand. I have a big shoe box where I keep the different spices I bought to use for Indian cooking.

I hesitated posting on this thread because the original poster was looking for something easy using curry powder. Curry powder is a western invention and a shortcut ingredient used to simulate Indian flavor in dishes. If you lived in India, it's not something you would use, since every dish has its own unique blend of spices.

Having said that, if you want a shortcut, your best bet would be to use curry paste or sauce from a jar. Pataks is a very popular brand, and is sold in many grocery stores in the US and the UK. It's still much like using a jar of spaghetti sauce to make an Italian meal. It's not quite as good as the real deal, but of course you can improvise and doctor it up to make it better.

At the very least, if you use paste or sauce from a jar, add your own fresh minced ginger, garlic, and onions. You can also add fresh chopped tomatoes. And a dollop or two of yogurt added toward the end of cooking time will also jazz it up a bit.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 20, 2011)

Steve Kroll said:


> Having said that, if you want a shortcut, your best bet would be to use curry paste or sauce from a jar. Pataks is a very popular brand, and is sold in many grocery stores in the US and the UK. It's still much like using a jar of spaghetti sauce to make an Italian meal. It's not quite as good as the real deal, but of course you can improvise and doctor it up to make it better.


That's pretty much what I do with my Thai recipes, start out with a canned Thai curry paste and then doctor it up. One day I hope to try and make my own paste. In the mean time it makes it much easier to cook a nice curry.


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## Caslon (Dec 20, 2011)

Gourmet Greg said:


> I forgot to include on the Thai curry recipe, add some Thai basil leaves before serving. It would also be good to add some thinly sliced Thai chili peppers (or other small chili peppers). I would have edited my post but evidently the edit window has closed.
> 
> I really like Thai basil. It tastes somewhat like ordinary basil but has a slight anise overtone, and the leaves are small and pointy, unlike ordinary basil. Just use the regular kind if you can't get Thai basil.
> 
> I hope I'm not the only one who likes Thai cooking and Thai curries. I suspect most forum members are probably more familiar with Indian curries.



I had some Thai chicken from Panda Express the other night, it's new on their menu.  I have to say that they put something green in it that was really overpowering. Was it basil?  It almost tasted like mint leaves. It really overpowered the taste. I ended up picking as much out of it as I could. It had a fairly long stem with some small green leafyness. I won't be buying that again.  Otherwise it was pretty good.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 20, 2011)

Thanks for reminding me Calson.  I would also consider adding mint to a curry. However, and I'm sure you're here on the forum for the same exact reason I'm on the forum, that we like to cook our own food because we can customize and adjust our recipes to suit our own preferences instead of having somebody else do it.

I don't know if your Panda Express Thai chicken had Thai basil or mint or perhaps something else, but obviously they used too much. I hate to bash anything or anyone but I'm not all that impressed with Panda Express. They started one near me a few years ago and I got food there once, and I was totally underwhelmed. To my taste they are an Asian equivalent to our McDonald's. I'm used to eating in good Chinese and Thai restaurants, or cooking my own, and I never went back to PE even once. So don't let that one experience turn you off to enjoying Asian food.

Just curious, do you like basil? Thai basil isn't all that different from our usual basil, just a slight different more complex flavor, and the leaves look different. I don't think anybody would mistake any basil for mint so you probably had too much mint in that chicken.

One of the nicest things about cooking your own food is that you can get it exactly the way you like it!


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## Caslon (Dec 20, 2011)

They probably put too much mint in it.  I can see having a hint of mint maybe, but when the taste of mint completely takes the forefront, it ruins it for me. They should have  called it Thai mint chicken, lol. What might have helped just a little is if I had stirred up the container to distribute the mint more.  I shouldn't have to do that tho.


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## Steve Kroll (Dec 20, 2011)

Caslon said:


> I have to say that they put something green in it that was really overpowering. Was it basil?  It almost tasted like mint leaves. It really overpowered the taste. I ended up picking as much out of it as I could. It had a fairly long stem with some small green leafyness. I won't be buying that again.  Otherwise it was pretty good.


I'm pretty sure it's cilantro.


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## Caslon (Dec 20, 2011)

Steve Kroll said:


> I'm pretty sure it's cilantro.



Maybe you're right.  I'm usually better at determining what some flavor is.
It was funny because while eating the meal I was asking myself what the hell is that flavor?  

So ya, I could have mistaken cilantro for mint.  I'm almost sure it wasn't basil.

Thanks.

Edit:  I found an ingredient list for their Thai Cashew Chicken and they add cilantro. A bit too much for my taste.
I like cilantro in mexican food tho, lol. I think that was my problem figuring it out, I associate cilantro with mexican food.
Thanks again.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 20, 2011)

Steve Kroll said:


> I'm pretty sure it's cilantro.


Haha, I fogot that cilantro is also something I would add to my Thai curries. I'd chop it and sprinkle on top immediately before serving. I would NEVER put cilantro in the dish at any stage of cooking before serving.

Another criticism of Asian fast food: Almost all of any Asian food I ever ate was freshly cooked and served immediately. How long does it take for cilantro to go bad and get all yucky under the heat lamps? Or on a steam table? 

Sprinkling with cilantro is something you might do just like French chefs sometimes sprinkle parsley on the dish before serving, as kind of like a garnish.

I think there may be a genetic difference in taste receptors that causes some people to not like cilantro. I have never tasted the "soapy" thing, although I've seen it mentioned and discussed far too often to discount it. Obviously some people taste cilantro differently, taste it as soapy, and I'm glad I'm not one of them.


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## Bolas De Fraile (Dec 21, 2011)

I hope I don't sound pompous, I did a 3 day course about 15 yrs ago in the Chiang Mai school, we were taught to use the root of the cilantro(coriander) to cook with, the leaf was used only as a garnish or in salads.


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## Timothy (Dec 21, 2011)

Gourmet Greg said:


> Haha, I fogot that cilantro is also something I would add to my Thai curries. I'd chop it and sprinkle on top immediately before serving. I would NEVER put cilantro in the dish at any stage of cooking before serving.
> 
> Another criticism of Asian fast food: Almost all of any Asian food I ever ate was freshly cooked and served immediately. How long does it take for cilantro to go bad and get all yucky under the heat lamps? Or on a steam table?
> 
> ...


 
I'm with you, Greg. I've never tasted anything "soapy" in any of the Mexican foods I've eaten over the years. I'm not sure if I would know the taste of cilantro if I did eat it. I'll have to pick some up one day and try it all by itself.


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## Caslon (Dec 21, 2011)

Bolas De Fraile said:


> I hope I don't sound pompous, I did a 3 day course about 15 yrs ago in the Chiang Mai school, we were taught to use the root of the cilantro(coriander) to cook with, the leaf was used only as a garnish or in salads.



That sounds like it would have given the right overall hint of cilantro flavor to the dish.  Mind you, the rest of the ingredients to PE's Thai chicken weren't at all cilantro tasting.  It's just that when you went for a fork of veggies and maybe a small piece of chicken, the cilantro stems with some leaf were too up front...taste wise. The stir fried, heat exaggerated cilantro with leaf was a bit much, taste wise, in a fork full.


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## Steve Kroll (Dec 21, 2011)

Bolas De Fraile said:


> I hope I don't sound pompous, I did a 3 day course about 15 yrs ago in the Chiang Mai school, we were taught to use the root of the cilantro(coriander) to cook with, the leaf was used only as a garnish or in salads.


Not pompous at all. 

The only place I've ever seen cilantro/coriander with the root attached is when purchased at the farm market. The supermarket always has them trimmed and cleaned.

I am a certified cilantro-maniac but my wife is less enthusiastic about the herb. At home, when we have dishes that call for it, I put out a small bowl of chopped leaves (no stems) so we can each add it to our liking.

I see a lot of cilantro garnishes in upscale fast food restaurants lately. That is, I assume it's supposed to be a garnish, as it's usually a full sprig with stem and leaves. As a cilantro lover, I find that a little awkward. What I invariably end up doing is stripping off the leaves, adding those back to the food, and discarding the stem. The stem is an annoyance as far as I'm concerned, and doesn't belong in any dish. Nevertheless, I see it that way more often than not.

I also looked at some photos of the Panda Express Thai Chicken dish in question. From the photos, there are quite obviously large quantities of cooked cilantro in it - stem and all. I agree with Greg above that cilantro should not be cooked into the food, but used as more of an enhancement to be sprinkled on before serving. However, I could eat an entire cilantro salad myself.


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## Bolas De Fraile (Dec 21, 2011)

Steve mate buy a bunch, chop a few roots off and pound in a mortar and pestle with a little plain oil and taste.  will flow.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Dec 21, 2011)

Bolas De Fraile said:


> I hope I don't sound pompous, I did a 3 day course about 15 yrs ago in the Chiang Mai school, we were taught to use the root of the cilantro(coriander) to cook with, the leaf was used only as a garnish or in salads.



My Thai cookbooks also use the cilantro (coriander) roots for cooking--like mixing in pastes--and use the leaves only for sprinkling over at the last stage. 



Steve Kroll said:


> The only place I've ever seen cilantro/coriander with the root attached is when purchased at the farm market. The supermarket always has them trimmed and cleaned.



Alas, I haven't found cilantro with the roots on in my local supermarkets, not even my Asian markets.



Steve Kroll said:


> I also looked at some photos of the Panda Express Thai Chicken dish in question. From the photos, there are quite obviously large quantities of cooked cilantro in it - stem and all. I agree with Greg above that cilantro should not be cooked into the food, but used as more of an enhancement to be sprinkled on before serving. However, I could eat an entire cilantro salad myself.



Yeah, that's just wrong to cook a bunch of cilantro including stems into a dish and then let it sit under heat lamps or on a steam table for a long time. I'd call that cilantro abuse! That's why I don't like PE or any Asian place ("all you can eat buffet") that makes food in large batches and then keeps them on heat as customers are served. At Chinese and Thai restaurants (or at home) orders are cooked individually and served within a very few minutes of leaving the wok. Usually the cilantro leaves are added after the food is plated. I've never let cilantro sit over heat for long periods of time and evidently that's a bad idea.

PE is a fast food place, an Asian version of McDonald's or Jack in the Box. I wouldn't expect to find good chefs at PE anymore than I would at McD's or Jack's. They're moving mass quantities of food and don't have time for careful cooking. The chefs are probably equally trained compared to any other fast food places, in other words not expert chefs. I advise that if you eat at PE that you stick to dishes that are hard to screw up, like perhaps sweet 'n sour chicken.


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