Chicken Curry
Mar. 17th, 2022 03:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plonqToday on Cooking with plonq:
I have been wanting something curried for lunch or dinner for the past week or so, but it didn't fit with any of our meal plans for dinner, and I've been eating mostly leftovers for lunch.
When I was poking around for some lunch ideas today, I started mulling on ideas for a lentil curry when I remembered that we had a couple of chicken thighs in the freezer downstairs. I brought them upstairs, tossed them into a bowl of warm water to thaw a bit, and then started prepping other things.
I rough-chopped half an onion and tossed it into a pot with a tablespoon or so of cooking oil. While that cooked, I fetched a knob of ginger from the fridge and coarsely minced it up, followed by two cloves of garlic. When they were all roughly chopped, I gathered both of them together into a pile and continued chopping them until the onions were cooked enough to be ready for them.
I stirred them in with the onion and then cubed up the still-mostly-frozen chicken thighs. While I waited for those to finish thawing and cook through, I mixed up a cup of warm water with some chicken bullion and a couple tablespoons of powdered coconut milk. Next, I started a second pot on the stove with a cup of water, half a cup of rice, a pinch of salt, and a bit more of the coconut milk powder.
While the rice and chicken cooked, I added a splash of fish sauce to the coconut milk mixture and then started hunting for the red Thai curry paste. Which we don't have. That gave me a moment's pause before I shifted gears and grabbed the Madras curry powder instead. I dumped a good tablespoon of that in with the (now cooked) chicken and stirred it a bit to cook the edge off the curry, then I dropped in two frozen balls of spinach. After a moment or two of waffling, I ended up following the spinach with a good shake of red chilli flakes.
When the spinach was mostly thawed, I stirred in the coconut mixture and let it come to a gentle boil before reducing it to a simmer. I gave it a taste and then tweaked it a bit with about a teaspoon of sugar and two crushed cardamom pods. I was going to toss in some raisins when I spotted the dried cranberries. To my mind, they would accomplish the same function and add a nice bit of colour to the dish.
I added about a tablespoon of cornstarch to the curry to thicken it up, and then let it simmer on low heat until the rice was done. As soon as the rice was ready, I folded some black sesame seeds and a splash of orange blossom water into it.
I scooped the rice into a bowl, hollowed out the centre, and scooped in about half of the curry (the rest went into the fridge). I garnished it with another shake of chilli flakes, and some fresh parsley from the basement.
Prognosis: this was really good. Mild, and packed with flavour. The cranberries turned out to be a great addition.
On a side note: I will continue cross-posting all of my entries to both Livejournal and Dreamwidth, but given the current situation with Livejournal's owners, I can't guarantee the continued availability that site.
As always, anything you see on LJ is also available on Dreamwidth under the user-name "Plonq"
plonq:I have been wanting something curried for lunch or dinner for the past week or so, but it didn't fit with any of our meal plans for dinner, and I've been eating mostly leftovers for lunch.
When I was poking around for some lunch ideas today, I started mulling on ideas for a lentil curry when I remembered that we had a couple of chicken thighs in the freezer downstairs. I brought them upstairs, tossed them into a bowl of warm water to thaw a bit, and then started prepping other things.
I rough-chopped half an onion and tossed it into a pot with a tablespoon or so of cooking oil. While that cooked, I fetched a knob of ginger from the fridge and coarsely minced it up, followed by two cloves of garlic. When they were all roughly chopped, I gathered both of them together into a pile and continued chopping them until the onions were cooked enough to be ready for them.
I stirred them in with the onion and then cubed up the still-mostly-frozen chicken thighs. While I waited for those to finish thawing and cook through, I mixed up a cup of warm water with some chicken bullion and a couple tablespoons of powdered coconut milk. Next, I started a second pot on the stove with a cup of water, half a cup of rice, a pinch of salt, and a bit more of the coconut milk powder.
While the rice and chicken cooked, I added a splash of fish sauce to the coconut milk mixture and then started hunting for the red Thai curry paste. Which we don't have. That gave me a moment's pause before I shifted gears and grabbed the Madras curry powder instead. I dumped a good tablespoon of that in with the (now cooked) chicken and stirred it a bit to cook the edge off the curry, then I dropped in two frozen balls of spinach. After a moment or two of waffling, I ended up following the spinach with a good shake of red chilli flakes.
When the spinach was mostly thawed, I stirred in the coconut mixture and let it come to a gentle boil before reducing it to a simmer. I gave it a taste and then tweaked it a bit with about a teaspoon of sugar and two crushed cardamom pods. I was going to toss in some raisins when I spotted the dried cranberries. To my mind, they would accomplish the same function and add a nice bit of colour to the dish.
I added about a tablespoon of cornstarch to the curry to thicken it up, and then let it simmer on low heat until the rice was done. As soon as the rice was ready, I folded some black sesame seeds and a splash of orange blossom water into it.
I scooped the rice into a bowl, hollowed out the centre, and scooped in about half of the curry (the rest went into the fridge). I garnished it with another shake of chilli flakes, and some fresh parsley from the basement.
Prognosis: this was really good. Mild, and packed with flavour. The cranberries turned out to be a great addition.
On a side note: I will continue cross-posting all of my entries to both Livejournal and Dreamwidth, but given the current situation with Livejournal's owners, I can't guarantee the continued availability that site.
As always, anything you see on LJ is also available on Dreamwidth under the user-name "Plonq"
