I’m a real lover of curry. My mother grew up in Jamaica and introduced us to English curry very early on (Jamaica was still a British territory when she lived there). That’s made quite differently from the Indian and Asian curries I’ve now come to love. Here’s a quick, easy recipe that serves two but can easily be doubled, etc.
You’ll need:
- 1/2 to 1 pound diced chicken, depending on your appetite
- 1 medium or 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 small to medium onion (I used red but it doesn’t matter), diced
- 2 garlic cloves diced
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1-3 teaspoons Madras curry powder [if you want a mild curry flavor, use 1 teaspoon; for a full flavored, slightly hot curry, add 3 teaspoons]; if you use the pre-bottled stuff from the grocery store, you’ll need to add more because those are very bland. Some Whole Foods stores, and probably now some grocery stores, have it in bins where you can purchase the amounts you want.
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chicken stock or, if you can use it coconut milk
Heat a medium to large skillet over high heat and add the oil when hot. When the oil gets hot, turn the heat down to medium, add the curry powder and toast until very fragrant but be careful not to burn it, this should take less than a minute. Add the diced chicken, onion, garlic and celery. Cover and cook until veggies are soft and chicken is cooked, approximately 5 minutes. Add the sweet potato and chicken stock, cover and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 7-10 , minutes. At this point, you have several choices. You can remove the cover and let the liquid boil off OR you can add 1/2 tablespoon of corn starch or gluten free flour (all purpose works fine) that you’ve dissolved in 1/4 cup of stock or milk. That will thicken the sauce.
Plate and garnish with chopped scallions, dried cranberries or raisins along with a quarter of lime. Curry loves citrus and sweet things so feel free to add cranberries, raisins or coconut, along with nuts (the oilier nuts work best here rather than almonds or macadamias; my mother always added walnuts) for a crunch or put them on the side so they can be added to taste.
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