This Curried Coconut Chicken is an easy chicken curry made with tomatoes and coconut milk.
I am a little off this week. Usually, I cook when both my husband and I are home, and use the nights that he works to eat leftovers. But this week, we were too busy to do any cooking while we were both home, and last night, my husband was working and I cooked for myself! The main reason I did this was because I have had a very strong craving for curry lately, and my husband does not like curry so I knew that I needed to make it on a night when he was not home. A co-worker told me of a curry recipe him and his wife made that was to die for. I have been wanting to make that recipe, but it calls for fresh bamboo shoots, and I will need to make a trip up to a market in Salt Lake that sells them. (I was actually near it earlier this week, but forgot my wallet at home!!) So I decided to try a different recipe and hold off on that recipe for another time.
This was my first time making curry. I have only had it a few times in my life, but have always really liked it. It was a very healthy recipe as well. I decided to take the advice of others and use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts. I had never even thought of doing this until I started reading food blogs. I learned that you only marginally increase the calories and fat but the flavor would be a lot better. According to calorieking.com, a 2.5 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast has 78 calories and 1 gram of fat. A 2.4 oz boneless, skinless chicken thigh has 82 calories and 2.7 grams of fat. I think that the added calories and fat are worth the extra flavor!!
This recipe was a perfect first-time curry recipe. The only thing I wish it had more of was heat. I didn’t find it spicy in the least bit. Maybe if I use curry paste instead of curry powder?? I actually went out and specifically bought Jasmine rice as well. The combination was perfect. One word of warning though – if you live in an apartment or condo – this might not be the recipe for you (if you have neighbors that aren’t very nice I guess.) The smell is VERY strong. I knew the house smelled of curry, but when my husband got home at 2am, he said the smell nearly knocked him over when he walked in the door. I thought the smell had subsided by this morning, but I opened the laundry closet (that is right by the kitchen) this morning, and I think a lot of the smell got locked in there, because the smell hit me as soon as I opened the doors. But – I have been looking forward to lunch today to eat leftovers!!
The recipe serves 6 – I was going to cut it in half because I only had 1 lb, but I didn’t want to waste half a can of tomatoes, half a can of coconut milk, and half a can of tomato sauce. So I made the full recipe, but only used half the chicken. I really don’t think that 2 lbs of chicken is necessary. I thought the 1 lb worked well. The only other thing I changed was cutting down the sugar – the original recipe calls for 3 Tablespoons, and I cut that in half.
I decided to try some naan to serve with the curry. I think that I have eaten naan once before, but it was so long ago that I really don’t have much to compare mine to. I did cut this recipe in half. I used a trick that someone left on one of my recipes a little while back. He said that if you are halving a recipe that calls for only one egg, just lightly beat the egg and measure out half. I’m really glad I did this, because I’m sure the rest would have gone bad – way too many leftovers for just me!! My pieces of naan ended up being only about 3 inches in diameter, and all pictures that I have seen of it seem like it is made into bigger pieces, but it did taste good with the curry. The recipe I used said to grill the pieces, and I had intentions to do this outside on the grill, but a windstorm came through as I was cooking and I knew that if I went outside, I would be eating dirt covered bread. So I just cooked it inside on a stovetop grill. I wish I would have baked half of them to see how it would have differed….maybe next time. The bad thing about this bread is that I stood over the cooking curry, dipping the bread into it – losing track of how much I had eaten!!
UPDATE – find the Naan recipe HERE.
Overall, a great dinner. My hubby even let me put some of the leftovers in his lunch for today – maybe he will surprise himself and actually like it!!
Curried Coconut Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- 1 teaspoon salt and pepper or to taste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1/2 onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 14 ounce can coconut milk
- 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- rice for serving
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the curry powder and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the onions and cook until they start to soften, 2-3 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. add the chicken and stir to coat with the curry oil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the chicken is cooked through, 7-10 minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato sauce and sugar. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 minutes.
Lyla says
Made the curry. LOVED it, thank you!
Brilynn says
I’ve been wanting to make my own naan bread but have never done it. And I know what you mean about curry smell getting into everything. Usually I get used to it after being in the kitchen for a while and don’t notice it anymore but if for any reason I leave and come back, the smell is overwhelming. Luckily I like curry, so it’s never a problem.
Amanda at Little Foodies says
Looks good! We love curry in this house – thankfully all of us including the children.
Judy says
Sounds delicious!
Janet says
That looks wonderful, I would love that. But I would also have to make when my husband wasn’t around. He hates coconut!
Ellie says
Woah, you made your own naan? I’ve always been too scared to do it as I wondered how well it would work without a tandoor, but seeing how yours worked, I may need to give this a try! 😀
Cynthia says
Your curry looks rich and creamy, Deborah. I’d like to suggest that if you find a good curry paste, then use it. Barring that, look for a spice mix, usually called garam masala, you can use that with the curry powder. You can always add your own heat my adding hot chillies to the curry.
Generally I don’t put any sugar in my curry but then again, there are so many curries out there from different parts of the world. Here is a link to a place where there are lots of Indian food bloggers, you will be able to get some more ideas about spices, curries etc. http://www.dininghall.blogspot.com click on any of the members’ name on the right hand side.
Sara says
Oh wow, that looks good. I love anything with coconut and curry.
Kelly-Jane says
Looks great, lovely colour too, mmm! Might need to make curry soon!!
KJ says
Yum, this looks good. I have never been brave enough to try making naan. You did a great job.
mayacook says
Juste the kind of plate I love!!
JennDZ - The Leftover Queen says
Wow, that looks beautiful! I love naan!
Patricia Scarpin says
Deb, that dish looks good! And I have never tried naan.
Btw, tks for the link to nutritional info site, it will be so useful!