Healthy Recipes 360

« Mediterranean Salad Dressing

Wakame Salad »

Vegetable Curry With Chicken

October 29th, 2010 |

Author: admin

This is a basic vegetable curry recipe with chicken. The basic curry requires a little bit of vegetable oil for cooking, some chopped garlic, whole cumin seeds, red onions, tomatoes, mild green peppers, chopped ginger plus some turmeric root powder and some coriander powder. This is the basis for most any vegetable curry and takes about 6 to 8 minutes to cook thus far. Into this mixture you will add some vegetables. In this case I chose to add cauliflower, broccoli and yams. The vegetables require softening so they need to be cooked for about 25 to 30 minutes. Then I add some chicken cut into small pieces. Cook for another 5 minutes (don’t cook the chicken too much … you don’t want dry, hard chicken).

The basic idea for making curry is to have the ingredients all chopped up and prepared ahead of time. Start by sautéing chopped garlic in oil and gradually add each ingredient one after the other in a certain order, cooking each ingredient a little at a time. After sautéing the chopped garlic for a couple of minutes then you will add the whole cumin seeds. Cook them until the seeds are dark and the garlic is a very light tan color. Next, add the onions and cook them … you don’t want them brown., Next, add the tomatoes … this will slow it down because tomatoes will contain some water. The last ingredient before adding the vegetables is the chopped ginger. You don’t want to cook it too long and cook away the flavor … then you add the vegetables. You will probably need to add a little water for the vegetables.

I like to serve the curry in a bowl over a little cooked brown rice and then garnish it with fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) and chopped raw cashews. The curry is made with mild peppers (Anaheim peppers) and they are cooked which tends to make them even milder. You can add hotness with garnish. You can vary the hotness from hot (Jalapeño peppers or Serrano peppers) to very hot (Habanero peppers).

Ingredients:

1 lb skinless chicken breast meat, chopped into small pieces
1 cup fresh cauliflower florets
1 cup fresh broccoli, cut into small pieces with florets
2 cups fresh yams, cut into small pieces
1 cup chopped red onions
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup Anaheim peppers, chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger root, shredded / chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp turmeric root powder
1 tbsp whole cumin seeds
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp salt

Garnishes

Fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)
Serrano chili, sliced thin
Habanero chili, finely chopped
Raw cashews, finely chopped

Directions:

Chop all the vegetables and meat to have everything ready. Place a small amount of cooking oil (vegetable oil) – about 2 -3 tbsp into a skillet. Heat up the oil and add the cut garlic. Cook the garlic until just beginning to brown very slightly, and then add the whole cumin seeds. Continue to cook until the cumin seeds start to turn dark and the garlic has slightly browned. Do not overheat or over cook.

Turn down the heat to medium, and then add the chopped onions.

Continue cooking for a couple of minutes and then add the chopped tomatoes. Keep stirring.

Cook for another minute or so and then add the spices – the coriander powder and the turmeric powder. Add a little water to achieve the consistency of loose paste.

Cook for a couple of minutes, and then add the chopped green chilies. Note: depending on how hot you prefer the curry, thinly sliced Serrano chili peppers can be used for garnish or cooked with the vegetables and meat. You can add them a little later for less cooking time and more hotness.

Stir it around a bit and then add the fresh ginger root. Don’t overcook it and cook away the flavor.

Now add all the remaining vegetables – the cauliflower, broccoli and sliced yams. Add enough water to cover the vegetables. Cook for about 25 minutes to soften the vegetables. Add the salt while the vegetables are cooking. Stir often.

Finally, add the chicken pieces and cook for about 5-7 minutes. Don’t overcook the chicken. You want it to be moist and tender.

Serve hot. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and sliced Serrano chilies for hotness.

Shown below is a photo of all the ingredients: starting in back and going left to right row by row – cauliflower, broccoli, yams, red onions (always use red onions for curry recipes), tomatoes, Anaheim peppers, ginger root, Serrano peppers, Habanero peppers, sliced garlic cloves and fresh coriander leaves (cliantro).

Start by heating up a little oil in a large pan and then sauté the sliced garlic cloves. Use a medium-high flame.

Cook the garlic for a minute or so and then add the whole cumin seeds.

Continue to cook until the seeds turn dark … You want the garlic to be a light tan and just starting to brown a little. You don’t want the garlic too well done.

Next, add the onions.

Turn the flame down and cook the onions for a couple of minutes. You don’t want the onions to be brown.

Next, add the chopped tomatoes. The tomatoes will contain some water and will slow down the cooking a bit.

Cook the tomatoes for a minute or so and then add the spices. Start by adding the coriander powder.

Next, add the turmeric powder.

Stir it up real good to mix all the ingredients. Next, add the Anaheim peppers.

Cook everything for a couple more minutes.

Next add the chopped ginger and cook for a very short time. You don’t want to cook the flavor away.

Now add all the vegetables. This is the cauliflower …

Then comes the broccoli …

And then add the yams …

Cook for about 25 minutes to soften all the vegetables. Add a little water if necessary to cover all the vegetables.

While the vegetables are cooking, cut the chicken breast meat into small pieces….

Keep checking the curry. Stir it up once in awhile. Add a little salt at this point. I will usually add about two teaspoons.

When the vegetables are all cooked, add the chicken meat …

After adding the chicken, cook for about 5 minutes only or until the chicken is not pink anywhere.

Serve immediately when done. The hot curry will continue to cook the chicken. You don’t want the chicken to become dry. Transfer any extra to a bowl and then cover and put in the refrigerator.