coconut curry

I wasn’t going to post this because it’s pretty much verbatim from The Pretty Dish but I made it 3 times in a month and therefore decided that I owe it to you to pass it along.

I was telling the GS that I don’t like to post recipes that I haven’t had some hand in creating. He told me that people probably prefer that I just cook established recipes from books because I don’t have any “cred” on my own.

So glad he’s one of my subscribers to this here blog that I’ve been toiling away at for 7 1/2 years.

In my defense, each time I’ve made this I’ve tweaked it a bit. The first time, I made it with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs that I sous vide before dunking in the curry sauce. High maintenance. The second time I doubled it, and made the curry separately so that I could keep part of it vegan for my SIL. And this time I did it all in one pot with chicken breasts cut in half. All 3 phenomenal.

It’s a really easy and hearty meal, perfect for this cold snap we seem to be having. You can also swap the veggies if there’s something else you want to use, or something that is on its last leg in your fridge that should get cooked instead of being tossed. Regular onion instead of leeks, maybe some carrots or parsnips. Something that can stand up to the cooking. Do it do it!

Coconut Curry

3-4 chicken breasts or thighs, or a mix of both!

1 tbs coconut oil (or canola, if you don’t have coconut)

1 leek, sliced and thoroughly washed

2 red bell peppers, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon grated ginger

2 tbs red curry paste

1 can coconut milk

chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

jasmine rice, for serving

First and most important step: check out my ballin’ new cutting board!! (Christmas gift from Mike- nailed it.)

Does a custom cutting board earn me some “cred”?

Slice the leek and put it in a bowl of water, separating the rings with your fingers to make sure you get all the grit out. You might have to rinse them through a few times.

Preheat the oven to 375. Heat the coconut oil in an oven-safe pot (I use my Dutch oven). Add the chicken, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper, and sear. Remove from the pan. Add the garlic, ginger, leek, and pepper. Stir and cook down for about 5 minutes.

Add the curry paste and stir to coat the veggies. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, then add the can of coconut milk. (If it has separated, that’s okay.) Stir it all together, then nestle your chicken chunks back in there.

(If you’re serving a vegan friend, you’ll sear the chicken in a different pan, pull some of the curry out for their serving, and then put the chicken in the dutch oven and into the oven. Perhaps this is obvious but just in case.)

Cover, and bake for about 30-35 minutes. While the chicken is in the oven, you can make your rice. I’m really having a moment with jasmine rice right now but whatever you have will work. It’s all just a vessel for that SAUCE.