Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Ground Chicken and Potato Curry

                          A delicious savory curry quick enough to serve for a busy weeknight dinner.
Great over rice or with Roti, and Indian flatbread.
 Flatbread is super easy and only three ingredients: whole wheat flour, pinch of salt and warm water. You don't even dirty a frying pan! Just wipe & go. My favorite type of recipe!
I make the dough and let it sit while I make the curry, remove curry from heat, then make the Roti. Here is a great video and a great recipe: Manjula's Roti  You'll wonder why you didn't try them sooner!

This curry can be made with cubed, boneless, skinless chicken or ground chicken or turkey. I'm not sure I'd use ground beef.
I had a proclaimed raisin hater (lol) say that perhaps it needed more raisins. Of course I artfully dodged the "what are those occasional sweet things?" question, and the said hata never found out I used golden raisins, "it could use a little more of those little things."
I love using golden raisins because they aren't as widely recognized as the traditional dark ones and easier to get past certain people who otherwise wouldn't try them, or come into the dish with a raisin bias. ;)
Ah, great fun.

As with most recipes, you can make it your own by adding more veggies, less veggies, more curry, less curry, etc.
extra virgin olive oil
1 lb ground chicken
2 small diced potatos
1 cup chopped celery with leaves
(I hold the pascal of celery and chop off just the tip to rid it of all the yucky brown cut ends, then thinly slice the whole thing starting at the top until I have the amount I need, sprinkle with water and stick back into the fridge. I don't see the need to take stalks off and then chop. The leaves are fantastic.)
3/4 cup or so of sliced scallions, including the green tops, if they're in good condition.
1/8 tsp red chili flakes
1/8 tsp ground cumin
pinch garlic powder
s & p to taste (easy on the salt)
2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 Tablespoon curry (more or less, depending on your curry and your taste for it)
1 1/2 t. garam masala
(I found mine at Meijer, not in the spice isle, but in the Indian foods section. Only 3 bucks for a huge 7ounce bag. Often, spices are cheaper in other sections of the store than in the "spice isle.")
1 dried small bay leaf
2 tsp cornstarch melted into 1 Tablespoon cold water, mix well.

 1/2 golden raisins
1/4 cup plain yogurt (I used fat-free)

Brown chicken with chili flakes and cumin, in about a Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, over medium heat. Don't fully cook yet.
Add potatoes and celery, pinch of salt, pepper and sprinkle of garlic powder, stir.
Cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, depending on size of your potato cubes.
Add scallions, broth, curry, garam masala, and bay leaf, stir to combine.
Turn heat down to medium-low and simmer, covered and stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender, but not mushy.
Add raisins and stir, cook about a minute. Just so the raisins plump.*
Stir in cornstarch slurry, stirring until thickened, about a minute or two, turn off heat and cover while you make the Roti.
Stir in yogurt before serving. :)


 *I was going to add frozen peas here, but I forgot. If you like peas, try adding them here. :)

Serve with Roti to clean up your plate! Super yummy and healthy.