Ingredients:
*4 pieces of Chicken Breast cut in cubes or 4 lbs leg/thigh meat (if you like)
*1 can of regular (15oz) coconut milk
*1 Tablespoon Butter
*2-3 Tablespoons of Extra virgin Olive Oil
*1 chopped Medium/large size yellow Onion
*1 Clove Garlic (Crushed) or use quarter Teaspoon of Garlic Powder
*half inch piece of fresh Ginger (Crushed) or use quarter teaspoon of Ginger powder
*2-3 Table spoons of Tomato Paste
*1Table spoon Sea Salt
*1 tea spoon Cumin Powder
*3/4 tea spoon Turmeric Powder
*1 tea spoon Red chilli powder (You can use a half tea spoon each of cayenne and paprika instead)
*1 tea spoon of Coriander Powder
*1/4 teaspoon of course or table grind black pepper
Omit the black pepper if you don’t like it, but I find each pepper adds a distinct and a different note of flavor. It hits a different spot on the tongue. Plus, do you know that when you add black pepper along with turmeric and oil, you make anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric bio-available for your body?
Recipe:
Saute onions in your mix of butter and olive oil (omit butter if you’re making it dairy-free, but know that adding butter/ghee brings saturated fat that makes your olive oil stable to the high heat) until the onions turns golden brown in color. Saute ginger and garlic if using crushed otherwise add them with the rest of spices. Add all dry powdered spices now and let them sautee with onions up to a minute or until they release their aroma (it’s called blooming the spices so they make a smooth paste in your curry rather than being chalky and powdery). Keep on stirring it. *Note: Don’t let them over cook for more than a minute as you might burn them.
Add chicken and saute with your spices and onion mix for a minute or two. Add a quarter to half cup of water if it seems to dry then cover the pan. Let the chicken cook for 15-20 minutes.
After the chicken is almost tender, it’s time to add tomato paste. Add tomato paste according to your desired color or consistency. I added 3 table spoons and hence got a rich orange color after adding coconut milk but two might be sufficient if you like light pale orange and thinner consistency. Cover the pot for 2-4 minutes more until tomato paste cooks and mixes with the rest of the ingredients in synergy.
Last but not the least, it’s time to add the coconut milk. Uncover the curry and add the coconut milk. Mix and let it simmer for a couple minutes more. Serve it on a bed of basmati rice and enjoy.
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