Simple Chicken Curry

Yes it may have been 107 degrees out last week, but that didn't stop me from making one of my favorite dishes, chicken curry. I think that in India part of the reason they make curry is so your body temperature rises to closer to the air temperature and therefore you will feel more comfortable in the heat. This made sense to me as I sat in my apocalyptically hot kitchen and ate my lovely curry. This is a really easy dish, but everyone likes their curry spiced differently so remember to season cautiously and to your own taste.

INGREDIENTS

2 boneless chicken breasts

1 onion

1 red pepper (optional)

1 14 oz can of diced tomatos

1 heaped teaspoon mild curry paste (Patak's is my favorite)

1 heaped teaspoon coriander

salt & pepper

vegetable or corn oil

HOW TO MAKE YOUR CURRY

1. Dice your onion and your red pepper. Heat a few lugs of oil in a large frying pan on medium heat. Add your onions and red pepper. Add the coriander and some salt and pepper and coat your vegetables. Cook until the onions are brown (5-7 minutes).

2. While your onion is frying clean your chicken breasts (my mom likes to wash them then coat them with kosher salt to clean them so that's what I do too). Then cut your chicken into 3/4 in. chunks.

3. Add your chicken to the frying pan.

4. Add the curry paste and coat the chicken with the curry paste and onion and pepper mixture. (depending on the amount of chicken you use you may need slightly more or less curry paste)

5. Add the can of diced tomatos and stir. Then add about a quarter can of water. (Use your judgement as to how thick you want your sauce when adding the water. Some of the water will evaporate during cooking but you don't want your sauce super thin.)

6. Bring your curry to a boil then turn down and let simmer for 30-35 minutes with occasional stirring.

7. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve your curry over basmati rice or accompanied by some naan bread. Additionally you may like to top your curry with a dollop of plain yogurt.

This is a really straightforward recipe and one of the first I made. The great thing about chicken curry is that you always have leftovers and it is one of the few dishes that tastes just as nice heated up in the microwave. Play around with it if you like. I am not a huge fan of coconut milk which is why it is not in the recipe but coconut milk can be added with the diced tomatos in step 5. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!