In January of 2009, I went down to New Orleans with a bunch of friends from Brown, and we stayed in a church and worked on a house that had been damaged by Katrina. In between days of putting up kitchen cabinets and nights of enjoying the French Quarter, we took turns cooking dinner in the church kitchen. Maggie and I decided to make curry, so we looked up some recipes and made a playlist to listen to while we cooked (among others, it included Kings of Convenience, the Beatles, Radiohead, Joshua Radin, Of Montreal, the Grateful Dead, R.E.M., and Bob Dylan). We didn't end up using this recipe, mostly because we couldn't be bothered to find/pay for mangoes, but I made it while visiting my family in England and it's pretty good. I used only one mango (because one of the two I bought was unripe) and instead used a whole pepper...this was a bad choice. It was far too peppery and not mangoey enough. Play around though; I think this recipe has great potential if you figure out how to tweak it to make it just right for you.
Mango
Chicken
Curry
Chicken
Curry
INGREDIENTS
3 Tbsp (or more) of vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped (1 1/2 to 2 cups)
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp yellow curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp fresh minced ginger
2 Tbsp cider vinegar or white vinegar
1 1/4 cup water
2 mangos, peeled and diced
1 1/4 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup heavy cream (can substitute all or partially with coconut milk)
Salt and pepper
Cilantro for garnish
METHOD
1 Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and another tablespoon of oil, cook for a couple more minutes. Add the curry powder and cumin, cook for a few more minutes. The spices will absorb some of the oil, so if anything begins to stick too much to the bottom of the pan, add a little more oil to the pan. Add the ginger and garlic, cook for one minute more.
2 Add the vinegar, water, and a 1/2 of the chopped mango to the pan. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain a low simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat. Scoop the sauce into a blender. Purée the sauce, pulsing until smooth. Return the sauce to the pan.
3 Add chicken pieces and raisins to the pan. Return to a low simmer. Cover the pan and let cook for 8-10 minutes. Chicken should be just cooked through. Use a knife to cut open the largest piece to check.
4 Add remaining mango pieces to the pan. Stir in the cream. Let cook at a very low temperature for another minute or two, uncovered. Do not let boil! Or the cream may curdle. Adjust seasonings. If a little too sweet, add a little more vinegar. If not sweet enough, you can add a dash of sugar. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve over rice. Garnish with cilantro. Serves 4.
