Creamy Chicken Curry (Yellow Curry)

This is kind of an East Meets West Meets East deal.  I got the original idea from a French curry, and turned it around and served it more in the Indian (family) style.  I love family-style cooking when we have all the grommits around, since everything can be doled out more evenly rather than relying on guess-work as to who wants what size chicken breast.  Plus, I think it cooks better and comes together cleaner.

(I keep forgetting to take a photo of this one, but when I do, I’ll InsertPhotoHere.jpg)

Shopping list:

• Rice
• Two large-ish onions
• Madras Curry powder  – Sun Brand if you can get it.
• More curry powder
• Butter
• Pepper
• Garlic
• 2 pounds chicken thighs
• 1 cup Sour Cream

So, when it comes down to it, this is basically stuff on rice, so it’s time to start some rice.  If you haven’t made rice with me before (note, I use a rice maker, so your mileage may vary), the trick is that for every ‘cup’ line on the bowl, use 3/4c of rice – I’m partial to a medium grain Calrose, but what you like for white rice should do. I like to do roughly one cup per person.  So, get your rice going.  I’ll wait.

Now before I begin, this is a recipe for 5 people, including three pre-teen to teens. Normal people can probably get 6-7 but it’s hard for me to judge that…  The leftovers are great so don’t worry too much, but you can cut this in half if you like.

I should also talk about curry powder.  There are a lot of them out there, but when I first started delving into curries, I hit the web, and all the Indian sites especially, looking for the best spice mix.  Time and time again I read things like “I was going to use my grandmother’s recipe, but Sun Brand is even better”  So I use Sun Brand Madras Curry Powder, because it’s better than my grandmother’s.

But enough blathering, lets get cooking.

First thing is two large-ish onions – bigger is generally better tonight.  Halve them and cut it along the axis so you get long strips. Turn the heat on your largest skillet, and melt a half-stick of butter in there.  Once the butter is foaming, add the onion strips and a couple cloves of minced garlic to the pan.  Sprinkle on 2-3 tbsp of curry powder and 2 tsp  black pepper.  Get all that moving, and turn your attention to the chicken.

Take your 2 pounds of chicken thighs (you can use chicken breasts, but thighs have more flavor, and are also cheaper).  Cut it all up into roughly 1/2″ cubes, and put them in a bowl.  Add about 2 tablespoons of curry powder, or whatever is required to coat them evenly.  I hope you remembered to take your wedding ring off first, because otherwise it gets kinda gross.  We’ll talk about your yellow fingernails later.

By now the onions should start to get soft and wilt-y (is that a technical term?).  When that’s the case – don’t let them get too soft because there’s more cookin’ to do – add the chicken in and mix the lot up.  Stir rather frequently, adjusting both the amount of curry powder and pepper, until the chicken is done. Break one of the larger pieces in half with a spatula to verify.

Take another look at what you’ve wrought, and look for a yellow pallor.  If that’s not there, add another tablespoon of curry powder, work that in well, and you should be ready for magic time.

Reduce the heat, and dump in a cup of sour cream.  There I said it.  One cup.  It can be a ‘proud’ cup too, it won’t hurt.

Stir in the sour cream as it melts, and when it’s evenly incorporated you should have a yummy-smelling mess approximately the color of a light mustard.  If not, it’s okay, but next time you can add more curry (I seldom measure).

By now your rice maker should have cast forth it’s heavenly chime, so rice in bowl, top with curry, and enjoy!

That’s it, really 🙂

Note to Remi: I know you’ve been making this, but I didn’t realize that I hadn’t updated it to what I’ve been doing.  Primarily, using chicken thighs and adding in a little garlic. I’ve also tweaked the curry numbers to be closer to reality.  <3