Influence

Friday, August 19, 2011

Curry in the Crock Pot

Alright, so I've been craving some spicy, hearty food this week. So I contacted the curry goddess Evelyn and asked if she would share her recipe with me. She gave me loose guidelines, and I went for it.

Mine turned out a bit different from hers. Not better or worse, just different. But still very delicious and filling. Was a fun experiment. I literally measured nothing. Just did it by feel, which is, actually, strangely liberating.

Also, this dish perfumes the whole house with the smells of love and caring that only a good crock-pot meal can produce. So it was a win across the board.

All the amounts in the following recipe are my guesstimates. And yes, I just used a fake word.

Chicken Curry (adapted from Evelyn!)
Serves 2 with massive leftovers

Ingredients:
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 big carrots, peeled and chopped
4 small-to-medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup of the Melange a Trois bell peppers from TJ's
2 cups fresh pineapple, chopped
4-6 chicken breast tenderloins, depending on how much you want/size
1 1/2 cans coconut milk
1 can chicken broth
Several heaping tablespoons of curry powder (I probably used 4-5)
Granulated garlic (I think I did 2 tablespoons or so)
1 teaspoon cayenne powder
Salt to taste

The beginning of this process is the only part that requires any real work. It'll take you about, 10-15 to prep all of your veggies and spices. After that, all you do is lay them in your Crock-Pot and crank that thing up to high for 6 hours. I put the onions in first, followed by the carrots, potatoes, pineapple and the chicken on top. Then add the liquids to cover. Put the spices in last and stir a bit to combine. After that..put the lid on a go have a productive day!
I came back about half way through the cooking process and tasted for seasoning. At this point I added a little bit of salt and some more garlic. Because that's how I roll.
After 6 hours, this meal is ready to roll. Just boil some rice and serve it up.

This meal is super easy to prepare, and the results are fantastic. You could trick people into thinking you slaved away all day at the stove! But I don't encourage lying. I actually served it on top of rice and with Garlic Naan from TJ's which is super-addictive and delicious. Two dollars buys you 4 big pieces of Naan that are covered in garlic.....MMMMMMM!

And..of course...this was a pretty healthy meal. The only fat comes from the coconut milk. But..what can I say. You can't make good curry without coconut milk. It just wouldn't work. There's something magical that happens when you combine curry powder and coconut milk. It's the same as beef broth and wine. Shouldn't taste good together, but after a couple hours on low heat, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn't lick the bowl. All the bowl-lickers out there know what I'm saying. Happy Friday people!

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