Indian-Approved Chicken Curry

While we were in Fairfax, we had a slew of people over to enjoy good company with good food. One of the nights, we had our friend Erica over and we served her Khoreshe Holu, which is a Persian dish. Since we were at my mom's house, we didn't quite have all of our normal cooking items; most notably for this meal, we didn't have ghee. So we went to Wegman's and thought their ghee was waaaay too overpriced and we decided to swing by one of the small Indian grocery stores by my house to pick some up. While we were there, we had to purchase at least $10 worth of products in order to use a card (being twenty-somethings, we swipe everything instead of carrying cash), so we picked up some tandoori and curry spices. We figured we'd try to get the most "authentic" looking ones and see if they were significantly better than your average curry powder at the normal grocery store.

We were originally just going to take these spices with us back to Williamsburg, but were going to get together with our friend Kedar. Initially, we were all going to go out for drinks, but then we made the bold suggestion that Kedar come over and try our Indian cooking. Will was nervous, but also hopeful, that he would earn an authentic Indian's seal of approval on his cooking. Since we cook Indian food all the time, it would be nice to know whether or not we're doing it right! So Kedar came over and Will threw together a chicken curry, based on the recipe our new can of curry powder suggested. Needless to say, it turned out to be a huge success and Kedar wholeheartedly gave Will the Indian seal of approval! And quite honestly, it probably was one of the better Indian dishes Will has ever made. So I very highly recommend making this with some naan bread and feasting! It's even better the next day.

Indian-Approved Chicken Curry (inspired by the curry powder can; serves 6)
1-2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained
1 onion, sliced
1 tbsp hot curry powder
4 cloves garlic, sliced into chunks
1 tbsp ghee
1 15-oz. can coconut milk
1/2 tbsp corn starch
1 cup jasmine rice

Before beginning to cook, you'll need to prepare your ingredients. Take the can of diced tomatoes and almost all of your 1/2 bunch cilantro, place in a food processer, puree until reaching a salsa-like consistency. Cube your chicken, drain your chickpeas, and slice the garlic.

Heat the ghee in a sauteuse pan or heavy-bottomed frying pan. Add slices onions and curry powder, sauteing until tender and browned. Add chicken and saute for about 5 minutes. Add chickpeas and garlic, cooking for about a minute. Then add tomato/cilantro puree to chicken, with a dash of salt (to taste), stirring together until well mixed. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until meat is tender. Add up to 1/4 cup water, if necessary, to cover everything.

As chicken is simmering, cook your rice. Once rice is ready, chicken should be done cooking too. Mix cornstarch with coconut milk, then pour over chicken. Heat through until slightly thickened, about 2-4 minutes. Serve over rice with naan bread! Sprinkle with fresh cilantro, if desired.

*If you like your curry a little hotter, you can add a little cayenne pepper. Even though our jar said "hot curry powder," it was not nearly hot enough!