Your Basic Curry Recipe

My friend Jody requested that I post this on the blog. It's not really a recipe, it's just what I always do to make curry.

1 can of coconut milk
your choice of meat (chicken, beef, etc.)
3 or 4 large potatoes
curry paste* (red, yellow, massaman, etc.) to taste

Brown meat in frying pan. Cut potatoes into small pieces. Pour milk into higherish sided pan. Add curry paste. (I usually do around four heaping small spoonfuls....umm, which probably translates into about 5 teaspoons. The more you add, the hotter it'll be.) Add potatoes and meat. Cook until potatoes are cooked. Serve over rice.

Also, it's really fun to pretend fried pitas are naan bread:
Cut pitas into sixths or eighths. Fry in olive oil with whatever seasoning you want (we usually do garlic powder, cumin, onion powder, oregano). Spoon curry/rice combo onto pita triangle and eat!

*You can get curry paste at an Asian market on 300 E 300 S. It costs around $3 and lasts a while.

Cuban Chicken

{This recipe is from the cookbook my sister made me for Christmas. For dinner group, I basically quadrupled the recipe, but these are the original measurements.}

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup lime juice

4 cloves garlic

2 tbsp dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

2 chicken breasts

Combine juices and spices for marinade and pour over chicken. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next day heat a skillet over medium heat. Place set marinade aside and then put chicken breasts in a skillet and cook until done. Remove from pan and set aside, keeping warm. Add marinade to pan and bring to a boil. Add a little more orange juice and lime juice to increase the amount of sauce. Serve chicken with sauce.

Spicy Coconut Chicken Casserole

Once again from the criminal goddess of domesticity:

Serves 4

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 whole chicken legs (about 3 pounds total)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) light coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cups canned reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 to 2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), cut into 1-inch pieces
• 8 ounces green beans (stem ends removed), cut into 1-inch lengths
• 1/2 lemon, cut into wedges, for serving

Directions

1. In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Working in two batches, cook chicken until browned, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a plate (chicken will cook more in step 2).
2. To pot, add coconut milk, broth, 1/2 cup water, and curry paste; bring to a boil, and stir in rice. Add chicken (with any juices), arranging pieces in a single layer. Cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, without stirring, until rice is almost tender, 15 minutes.
3. Scatter bell peppers and green beans on top of chicken mixture; cover, and cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges on the side.

Katie's notes:
A lot of the comments on this recipe said that 2 tsp of curry paste wasn't enough, and I would agree. I think I used about 4 tbsp, maybe a little more. The more you add, the more heat you'll get. You can find really good curry paste for quite cheap ($2.50ish?) at this little Asian market on 300 E 300 S. And...I think you'll want a little bit more rice than the recipe calls for because there's a lot of liquid in that pot. In fact, I just realized right now that I didn't add 1/2 c of water. Oops. It was still pretty watery until I added more rice.