One Perfect Bite: curry recipes

Showing posts with label curry recipes. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Braised Coconut Curry Chicken

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...t was a busy day today. Fortunately, I had forewarning, so I planned an easy, two step, chicken dinner. We occasionally have a curry and because the weather turned colder, I thought it would make a perfect spring supper. I used a recipe from about.com and because it was a braise, I did the prep work and browning early in the day and finished the chicken in a low, slow oven once I made it home. The chicken is savory and can pack some heat depending on the type of curry powder you use. The recipe is easy to follow and you'll have no problem making this curry, though I suggest you use butter instead of oil to brown the chicken and aromatic vegetables. Served with a green salad and rice or grits, it makes a great weeknight meal. I hope you will give it a try. Here is how the chicken is made.

Curried Lentil Rice

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I stumbled on this recipe and have kept it close at hand since I first tried this rice and lentil combination. I am not a vegetarian, but with each passing year I find that I eat less and less meat. Dishes like this one make it possible to alter long term eating habits. It takes less than 15 minutes to make this dish and it is surprisingly tasty. I am not a brand ambassador for Patak products, nor have I received any remuneration for this post. It's just that I've found their curry paste works best when making this dish. They have two types, a mild and a hot. Regular readers of One Perfect Bite know that I am not a fire eater and prefer to keep the heat in my dishes to a minimum. The Patak's Mild Curry Paste works well for my purposes, but if you are a dragon and like to breathe fire, try their hot paste instead. The original recipe called for canned lentils, and they are fine if you can find them at the market. If not, you can use your own and the results will be the same. This dish works well as a side or a main dish. It is especially good with plain grilled meat or chicken and that makes it possible for those in mixed marriages, the ones where vegetarians have married carnivores, to sit at the same table and share a meal together. I hope you'll give this recipe a try. Here is how this rice and lentil dish is made.

Country Captain Chicken

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is another recipe that was well used in the early years of my marriage. I was searching for new recipes to feature here and the Silver Fox, who is into curries these days, suggested I share this mild curry with you. I hadn't made it in years because this is one of those dishes that wafts in and out of favor. For my part, it was retired because I served it so often we became tired of it. Once the recipe was tucked away, I completely forgot about it and it became just another card yellowing in my original recipe box. It was exhumed tonight and I was reminded how very good it can be. Country Captain is a curried chicken and rice dish. While it's popular in the Southern United States, it has its origins in India. Save for the rice, the dish is a braised one pot meal that is really easy to make. It's believed it was first made for British officers stationed in India and brought to Savannah, Georgia, by a British sea captain. If you have never had this curry I urge you to give it a try. It is one of those dishes that works well for family and informal entertaining. It is inexpensive to make and gets you out of the kitchen in record time, so it is hard to go wrong. The recipe came from the original New York Times cookbook. Here is how the chicken is made.

Himalayan-Style Curried Pumpkin Soup - Mountain Kingdom Recipes

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Over the course of the next few days, I plan to share a handful of recipes from our recent Himalayan adventures. I must begin by telling you that people don't make this long journey for the food they'll be eating in Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. The food is very basic and what is served to visitors is repetitive, and most of the bland and tepid dishes are served buffet style. Ruth Reichl has been quoted as calling Bhutan's food "the world's worst cuisine." That's a bit harsh. I know she is at the top of her game, but when I talk about food from another country, I constantly remind myself that someone's mother has slaved over dishes I'm tempted to criticize and brush aside. That being said, while the food in Nepal is decent, that in Tibet and Bhutan tends to be bland because chilies, probably with good reason, are removed from dishes prepared for Westerners. One constant on our buffet tables was a dish called "chili cheese", a casserole made with yak cheese and fiery chilies. I tend to be an adventurous eater and I'll try anything once, but my first experience with chili cheese left me gasping for air and praying that St. George would appear and slay me before the fire I was breathing, torched the room. Soups, which we had every night, were on the other end of the spectrum and generally made with pumpkin or mushrooms that were watered down and desperately in need of seasoning. Dried meats are used throughout this area and they are difficult, if not impossible, to find in most state-side markets. For that reason, I decided the first recipe I wanted to share with you would be a simple soup made with pumpkin or yellow squash and ingredients you already have in your pantry. While you want to check the soup for seasoning before it is served, the spices used are typical of those used in the mountain kingdoms and the only liberty I've taken with the basic recipe is to offer a choice of coconut milk or cream. Coconut milk is not an ingredient used in the region, but I had a can of it and thought I could make good use of it here. This is a basic soup and very easy to make. If you are curious, here is how it is made.

A Quick Kashmiri Curry - My Recipe Rotation - Balti Chicken

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...If you enjoy curry dishes that are not fiery hot, I think you'll like this one. Like many curries, what it lacks in appearance it picks up in flavor. Many of us came of age at a time when we were taught that curry was a premixed spice powder that could be found in the spice aisle of the supermarket. Curry is not a spice mix, it is actually a sauce whose flavor comes from a mix of individual spices that vary according to where you live in the world. This Balti curry is really easy to make and it packs a real flavor punch. You can control its heat through the judicious use of pepper flakes, so it will have appeal for all but the youngest of children. This makes a great week night meal that your family will enjoy. Mine has for years now. I first featured Balti chicken in 2008. Here is what I had to say about it back in the day.

Uncommonly Delicious - My Recipe Rotation - Potato Curry

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is one of the newer recipes in my rotation. I originally made it to serve as a side dish, but I have since started to add thinly sliced pork or chicken to make the dish substantial enough to be a main course. I loved these potatoes the first time I served them and they are still growing on me. Here is what I had to say just a few months ago.

I stumbled on this recipe several months ago while looking for vegan dishes I could serve to a visiting friend. The recipe was created by Jennifer Harmon and I found this potato curry on her blog Peppers and Peaches. We have had it several times since then, and while he will not eat it as a main course, even the Silver Fox likes it as a side dish when it is served with plain grilled meat or poultry. The dish is easy to make and relatively inexpensive to prepare, so it is great to serve on a busy day or those times when the numbers at your table expand without warning and you need to extend a small entree with a hearty side dish. It takes about 5 minutes to prepare the ingredients for the curry and another 20 to 25 minutes for it to cook, so you can have it on the table within 30 minutes. The dish pulls elements from the Thai Mussaman curry and an Indian potato and pea curry that is called Aloo Matar. The coconut milk adds a smooth and lovely richness to the dish that makes it seem far more extravagant than it actually is. Chances are you'll have some extra sauce left over even if you use the full compliment of potatoes. I save it and serve it over rice noodles the following day, so nothing goes to waste. Those of you who try this will be both pleased and surprised. The potatoes are delicious and may even become a favorite of yours. Here is how this vegan and gluten-free dish is made.

Potato Curry

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I stumbled on this recipe several months ago while looking for vegan dishes I could serve to a visiting friend. The recipe was created by Jennifer Harmon and I found this potato curry on her blog Peppers and Peaches. We have had it several times since then, and while he will not eat it as a main course, even the Silver Fox likes it as a side dish when it is served with plain grilled meat or poultry. The dish is easy to make and relatively inexpensive to prepare, so it is great to serve on a busy day or those times when the numbers at your table expand without warning and you need to extend a small entree with a hearty side dish. It takes about 5 minutes to prepare the ingredients for the curry and another 20 to 25 minutes for it to cook, so you can have it on the table within 30 minutes. The dish pulls elements from the Thai Mussaman curry and an Indian potato and pea curry that is called Aloo Matar. The coconut milk adds a smooth and lovely richness to the dish that makes it seem far more extravagant than it actually is. Chances are you'll have some extra sauce left over even if you use the full compliment of potatoes. I save it and serve it over rice noodles the following day, so nothing goes to waste. Those of you who try this will be both pleased and surprised. The potatoes are delicious and may even become a favorite of yours. Here is how this vegan and gluten-free dish is made.

Rice Noodles with Coconut Curried Shrimp

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...If you are looking for a light supper to replace the grilled meats and salads that can become monotonous at this time of year, I'd like to suggest this entree as an alternative. While it's not truly Asian, most of its components come from Thai kitchens, so, only an aficionado will know this dish is a simplified version of a more complicated Asian curry. At first glance, the ingredient list may seem imposing, but if you scan it, you'll see that most of the ingredients are spices. As a matter of fact, if you are really busy, you can substitute a teaspoon of good curry powder for the toasted and ground spices that are suggested at the beginning of the recipe. This is a simple dish to prepare. The recipe comes from the New York Times and while I love this curry I have one caution to share with you. The first time I made it, I found it to be terribly under salted. To overcome that, I soak the rice noodles in boiling salted water and adjust the salt content of the finished curry sauce to my own taste. I really like this dish, and in a short period of time it has made its way to my permanent recipe rotation. I do hope you'll give it a try. I think you'll like it too. Here is how the curry is made.

Mulligatawny - Away A While Recipe Favorites

Mulligatawny

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Mulligatawny is an English version of an Indian soup that is usually made with curry and a small amount of chicken. The name literally means "pepper water". Although Bob and I had many soups while we were in India, we were never served this one, and, to my great embarrassment, I had never made it. Several weeks ago, I was introduced to the cooking of Madhur Jaffrey and her recipe for the soup caught my attention. I promised myself to try it once the activity in my kitchen moved from mazurka to waltz time and that opportunity presented itself last night. I was so excited about the results that I almost bumped my scheduled post. I stopped only because I wanted to see how this soup aged. I had it again for lunch today and I'm really happy to report my socks are still going up and down. This recipe is a treasure, especially for those who like food with a little bite. The predominant flavors here are garlic and ginger but they are perfectly balanced and neither will overwhelm the palate. I know the recipe looks involved but better than half the ingredients are spices and the soup is really easy to make. I have made very few changes to the original version. I did find the soup to be very thin, so I doubled the amount of potatoes used to thicken it and I used chicken thighs rather than the breast called for in the original recipe. I served the soup with rice for those who wanted something a bit more substantial. I really hope you will try this. I found it to be extraordinary and it will appear often on my table. The recipe can be found here.