Peanut Butter Chicken Curry

[purplewiz]

Peanut Butter Chicken Curry

Serves 4 as Main Dish.

This is my variation on the "Tender Turkey And Peanut Butter Curry" recipe from Ainsley Harriott's cookbook Gourmet Express 2. His basic recipe is very good, but I've tweaked this to my taste by substituting chicken for the turkey, changing the amounts of most of the ingredients, and adding more vegetables.

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into roughly 1/2" cubes
  
• oil for browning
  
• 1 small or 1/2 large onion, diced
  
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced (or other hot chile pepper)
  
• 1 T grated ginger
  
• 1 T minced or crushed garlic (2-3 cloves)
  
• 1-1/2 T Madras Curry Powder
  
• 1/3 c peanut butter
  
• 1 can unsweetened coconut milk (+ cream if it's in there)
  
• 1 c chicken stock/broth
  
• 1 can diced tomatoes with juice
  
• 1/2 lb cauliflower florets, frozen or fresh
  
• 1/2 c frozen peas
  
• salt and pepper (and possibly sugar) to taste
  

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large oven-safe pot (I use my Le Creuset), brown the chicken in oil. Add the onion and cook until onion is soft and translucent. Add the jalapeno, ginger, and garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the curry powder and cook until really fragrant. Add the peanut butter and let it melt, a really short time.

Add the coconut milk, tomatoes, and cauliflower, and bring to a simmer, stirring regularly so everything's mixed. Put a lid on the pot and put it in the oven for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, add the peas, and bake another 5 minutes.

Adjust taste with salt and pepper. Serve with rice (or not, if you don't want it). Makes 4 large servings and freezes VERY well.

Sometimes the ingredients are a bit on the bitter side, and since I use unsweetened peanut butter, I need to add a little sugar (or Splenda works well, too) to balance it out. (But Skippy and the like work just fine - crunchy or smooth.)

Measurements are rough guesses at best, since at this point the only thing I measure is the curry powder. There are many substitutions which can be made with delicious results. I once made this for vegetarians by using butternut squash for the chicken and vegetable broth for the chicken stock.

Keywords: Easy, Main Dish, Chicken, Dinner

( RG1383 )