My mother used to make curry chicken for us as children for as far back as I can remember. Back then, she would usually make it with chicken thighs, or maybe mixed pieces. But as I grew older, my tastes started changing, and I was no longer all that crazy about dark-meat chicken in a heavy sauce that was loaded with fat. That’s before I was worried about nutrition for the sake of staying healthy.
Today, I worry about both taste AND nutrition. (Okay, mostly taste…I admit it! But I try to be aware of the nutrition part and beef it up whenever I can.) So I work with the recipes I knew from childhood–and come up with a bunch of new ones, as I LOVE to cook–and make the meals I prepare exactly the way I like them. And now, on Nindo Mom, I’m sharing them with you. Aren’t you lucky? 🙂 I think so, and you will, too, when you try these recipes.
Here’s my personal recipe for Curry Chicken. Enjoy!
Remember that for the best tasting meal, you should start with the best ingredients, whenever possible.
If you love this recipe, try these next time!
Curry Chicken Recipe
Healthy and Delicious
- 1.5 pounds chicken breast (raw)
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 4 cups spring water
- 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- *4 tbsp Coconut Milk (solids only, I used Thai Kitchen brand – not light or reduced fat)
- 2 large white onions (chopped)
- 2 15- oz Del Monte Natural Sliced Yellow Cling Peaches (no sugar or artificial sweetener added!)
- 4 tbsp Curry Powder
- 4 tbsp Better Than Bullion Chicken base
- Paprika Powder
Cooking the Chicken
- Fill a large pot with water and put on medium-high heat. Carefully place 1.5 pounds chicken breasts in water and boil, covered, for about an hour. Be sure to monitor the pot during cooking; if the water starts to boil over, you’ll need to turn back the heat slightly.
- When the chicken breast has been cooking for about half an hour, cook the rice.
Cooking the Rice
A digital rice cooker / steamer is the easiest way to cook the rice, if you have one, using the spring water listed in the ingredients to prepare it. Otherwise, here's how to cook the rice: over medium-high heat, bring 4 cups of spring water to a boil, then turn back heat to low. Add 2 cups of dry rice and give it a quick stir to loosen it up–then turn temperature up to medium-low temperature, then cover with a lid. Set a timer for 20 minutes. It's OK to briefly lift the lid if you want to make sure it's not done, but don't stir! If the water is all absorbed before 20 minutes is up, add small amounts of spring water so that the pot doesn't run dry until the time is done. At the end of the cooking time, you want all the liquid to have been absorbed by the rice. When the rice is finished, turn the heat off and move the pot to another (cool) burner to avoid burning. Keep the lid on the pot until the rest of your meal is ready.
Cooking the Curry Sauce
- In a large, deep non-stick coating frying pan, add 2 T olive oil. Add onions to pan and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions turn translucent.
- Turn off heat and add 2 can so peaches with all their accompanying juice, 4 T Better than Bullion Chicken Base, 4 T coconut milk solids, and 4 T curry powder. Stir well into onions until well incorporated.
- Turn off heat and cover until chicken breast is done cooking, then add chicken breasts to pan and spoon sauce over chicken.
Serving the Meal
- For each serving, scoop 3-4 small ice cream scoops full of rice and arrange around plate, sprinkling with paprika powder.
- Spoon a chicken breast and generous portion of the sauce with peaches and onions on the other side of the plate.
- Time to enjoy!
* Explanation of what I mean by solids: when you open a can of coconut milk, you’ll notice that the contents are separated. On the top is a thick, less liquid layer, and beneath is a more watery portion. For most recipes, you would mix the contents of the can together well before using–but for my recipe for curry chicken, you need to take 4 tbsp off the TOP PORTION ONLY so that you get only the most concentrated portion. This will give you more coconut taste in the recipe and more thickening power.