When I was in college, one of my favorite things to do was go over to my friend Nick’s house. He would cook dinner for a few friends and then we’d play video games and watch Eddie Izzard DVDs. One of his specialties, curried chicken and veggies, was so good that I would head over to his house a little early and watch him make it. Although I’ve never written the recipe down and although it’s changed over the years due to my laziness and inability to purchase $9 spices, I still make it whenever I feel like drinking a beer and watching Delirious.
Just like so many other dishes that I love, this curry has a huge amount of wiggle room. You can put in any veggies that you can imagine - anything you have in your fridge — I’ve just listed my favorites below. You can also switch out the chicken for tofu or make an all-veggie curry (both vegan). You also shouldn’t worry if you’re missing a spice or two. It’s all delicious.
2 pounds chicken breasts (or thighs and legs) (or tufu)
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 large potato, cubed
1 head of broccoli
1 green pepper
1 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained
1-14-ounce can of coconut milk
a big spoonfuls of tomato paste
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
garlic, to your liking
a big palmful of curry
a small palmful of coriander
a small palmful of cumin
1 stick of cinnamon
a few whole cloves
dash of red pepper
salt
rice
Heat the oil and garlic in a large wok or saucepan. Cube the chicken and add to the oil. Add all of the spices and the onion and cook the chicken for a few minutes stirring often - the chicken should be coated in spices and bright yellow. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, coconut milk, and potatoes. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes, to allow the potatoes to cook and the chicken to cook through. Add the veggies (whichever you choose - I’ve also used carrots, snap pea, regular peas, spinach, eggplant, squash, etc.) and cover again so that the veggies can steam (another 10 minutes or so). The veggies should be bright green. Poke the potatoes with a fork to check doneness. Serve over hot rice.
Play some videogames and watch some British comedy.
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December 17, 2007 at 3:34 am
amh
Yum.
December 17, 2007 at 3:35 am
amh
Sarah - why does it say I posted at 3:34am when it is 10:34pm?
December 17, 2007 at 7:58 am
びっくり
Yum! That could go with “Black’s Books”… or is that Irish comedy?
December 17, 2007 at 4:03 pm
seaswell
amh - my blog is default set to a different time zone… London. I could change this somehow, but I am terribly lazy. alas.
February 4, 2008 at 2:45 am
Diana
With the stick of cinnamon, do I grate it or just add it to the pan and remove it later? I can’t wait to make this with tofu.
February 4, 2008 at 11:50 am
sarah
Diana
You just stick the cinnamon into the pan whole and remove it before you serve. Although when I don’t have cinnamon sticks at home, I just sprinkle on a small amount of ground cinnamon.
it’s really good with tofu.
February 4, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Diana
Awesome! Thanks for the tip.
Surprisingly, I have all of the spices this recipe calls for. A couple of weeks ago I went on a “the spices must flow” kick and bought everything I could see. I’m so glad my money won’t go to waste on spices that I would have never used.
February 5, 2008 at 1:24 am
Diana
You weren’t lying!
That has to be the best dish I’ve made since I started really cooking (which has been probably less than a year). Even my meat-eating boyfriend was all over it!
And leftovers are aplenty! I just can’t stop talking about it. Awesome recipe!