Chicken Curry

My new recipe of the week was inspired by the Chicken Curry recipe in my Cook's Illustrated cookbook but I really deviated it from it so much that I can't claim it. But it was still really tasty and I'm betting that it will be even better for lunch today.





Chicken Curry
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks
splash lemon juice
1/2 t. fennel seeds
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. ground cardamom
1 t. ground clove
1 T. curry powder
1 T. garam masala
salt and pepper
2 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
3 medium onions, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 t. fresh ginger, minced
16 oz. can whole tomatoes and their juice, chopped
1 1/2-2 c. chicken stock
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1/2 c. yogurt, room temperature
1 T. curry paste, I like the hot variety
cashews
cilantro

Raita
1 c. plain yogurt
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 c. cilantro, chopped
1/2 small cucumber, chopped
1-2 t. cumin
salt and pepper
lemon juice

Toss the chicken in the lemon juice and spices and marinate at least an hour. Add oil and butter to a pan and brown the chicken in two batches. you don't have to cook all the way through, just get a nice sear. Remove the chicken and add the onions, cooking very slowly on low heat. This may take an hour or so. Once the onions are soft, transluscent and deeply colored, turn the heat back to medium, add the garlic and ginger. Cook for two more minutes, add the tomatoes, stock, cinnnamon and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and let reduce on medium-low heat for about 20-30 minutes. Turn the heat off. Let this cool for about ten minutes and then stir in the room temperature yogurt. If you do this when the chicken is too hot or the yogurt is too cold, it will curdle. Add the curry paste to taste and bring the heat back up to continue simmering. Top with cashews and cilantro over rice. It's even better with raita and chutney.

Notes: As usual, I dumped some of everything in my spice mixture, use whatever combination of spices you like. I also didn't have any chicken stock so I used 1/2 c. sake and a cup of water. I added the curry paste at the end because it needed some more kick but certainly leave it out if you wish.