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Last night I made a Chicken Curry and Sweet Potato recipe from the Willy Street Coop READER, January 2022. As always, I made some changes based on what ingredients we had in the kitchen and our personal taste. For example, I used dried basil in place of fresh basil, omitted the salt, cut the sugar in half, used ginger powder in place of fresh ginger and used a fraction of the red pepper flakes that the original recipe called for. And the result? It turned out great! It was the best chicken curry I have EVER made if I do say so myself. The lemongrass and fish sauce brought out the Thai flavors.  The coconut milk made the sauce velvety. And it was super easy to prepare. About 20 minutes prep time and 40 minutes cook time. It was so good that there were no leftovers. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Ingredients

3 Tbsp curry powder

2 lbs chicken thighs, sliced into 1/2″ pieces

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

3 Tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp sugar

2 lemongrass stalks

1 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 1/2 pounds sweet potato, peeled and chopped

1 1/2 coconut milk

1 onion, chopped

1 Tbsp dried basil

Directions

Place the chicken pieces in a dish or container and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the curry powder. Mix to coat and set aside for 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a medium pot or deep skillet over medium-to-high heat. Add the garlic, crushed red pepper and last tablespoon of curry powder. Stir until fragrant, about 10-15 seconds. Add the chicken and cook until the edges turn golden, 7-8 minutes. Stir in the fish sauce, sugar, lemongrass, ginger and chicken broth. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and add carrots. After about 10-12 minutes, pour in the coconut milk. Fold in onions, sweet potatoes and basil and simmer for 15-18 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Serve hot over basmati rice.

Notice the two containers of coconut milk. We had frozen them previously, so we just needed to defrost them for this recipe. We also used a small package of red pepper flakes from Dominos Pizza. Must be at least 5 years old. But as my Mom would say “Spices last forever.”

Chicken pieces resting nicely in a container with curry powder. 

Chicken, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, fish sauce, sugar, lemongrass, ginger and chicken broth all in the skillet. Can you smell it? Yum!

Carrots, coconut milk, onions, sweet potatoes and basil have been added. It’s getting closer. The sauce thickened up nicely.

Recently I tried a Chicken Biryani Recipe, and it turned out great. A few alterations were made. The main one being that I cooked everything in one pot for maximum flavor and minimum cleanup! The recipe I based this on used too many pans and skillets for my liking. The most difficult part of preparing the dish was waiting for it to be done. My kitchen and most of my house smelled of Indian spices and savory aromas.  It was worth waiting for. I give it 👍👍. Try this recipe and let me know how if goes. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1.5 pounds chicken thighs, cut into 1/2″ pieces

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 1/2 tsp fresh minced garlic

1 tsp ground ginger powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp salt

pinch cayenne pepper

2 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp fresh cilantro finely chopped

3 large sweet onions sliced long and thin

Ingredients for Rice

2 cups Basmati rice uncooked

3 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp cardamom

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried anise

2 bay leaves

1 tsp olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juiced divided

2 tsp saffron

Directions

Marinate chicken in a medium size bowl, stirring together coconut milk with all chicken spices. Stir to coat and let marinate in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

To a pot or dutch oven, add 2 tsp of vegetable oil. Set heat to medium-high. Add onions and cook until browned. Remove pot from heat and plate onions.

To the same pot, add the marinated chicken. Sauté over medium to high heat until cooked. 

Add water and all rice spices to same pot. Stir together and bring to boil. Then add rice and reduce heat to low. Let simmer until liquid is absorbed, but rice is not fully cooked, about 12 minutes. 

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Then add cooked onions to top of rice/chicken dish. Mix saffron with remaining 2 tbsp lemon juice. Drizzle over top. Cover and bake for 60 minutes.