The Cafe: Big BLK Mama’s Curry in a Hurry!

I know as a mother of a brood of children how difficult it can be to be a working mom and still feed your children a balanced meal that still allows you to do the other things you need to do before you fall into your bed. I am quite proud to say that I have been honing that skill and can probably give Rachel Ray’s 25 minute or less meals a run for their money and trust me they definitely taste better!

I warn you however, all the measurements in ingredients are educated guesses. I rarely if ever measure anything when I cook a meal. I have been cooking since I was 14 and I have learn to “feel” the approximate measurement. I encourage all to do the same considering their families dietary needs and tastes.

I prefer all of my ingredients as fresh, organic and as unprocessed as possible. You will always find there are appropriate subs (i.e. already ground pepper vs. freshly ground or minced jar ginger vs. ginger root) however, trust me your flavors pop and blend together better with fresh ingredients.

This is NOT a traditional West Indian curry. This curry is a base, you can always add until your hearts content, try raisins or dried apricots with almonds, add veggies like fresh broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. I find this is a great dish to “hide” veggies in for my veggie hating son.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs of chicken thighs and legs (or whatever part you prefer) skin off, fat trimmed and boned, preferably free range.
• Enough cooking oil (I prefer sunflower) to coat the bottom of a non-stick skillet
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• About 5-6 turns of medium coarse fresh ground pepper (preferably us can always use already ground pepper as well)
• 1 diced onion (can be omitted or decreased based on taste)
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 gloves minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3 teaspoons West Indian curry ( I swear by Chief which can be found at most Korean fruit markets)
• 2 cups low sodium free range chicken broth (Trader Joe’s is great) in a pinch you can dissolve a low sodium chicken bouillon i two cups of water – voila  a great chicken broth sub!
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Directions

Clean chicken in a mixture of 1 part lemon juice to two parts water.

Season with sea salt, pepper and thyme. Take care to really rub seasoning into chicken (you can let sit in refrigerator for a 1/2 hour or season the night before) and set to the side.

Heat sunflower oil until shiny. Brown chicken on all sides. You don’t want to cook it all the way through. Just until golden brown and chicken bleeds. Drain on paper towels.

Pour off some of the oil, leaving about a tablespoon in the bottom of the pan. Brown onion and garlic until soft and slightly translucent, stirring constantly, about 3-5 minutes. Add ginger until fragrant about 30 seconds.

Now add curry powder (no this is not a mistake, a Trini friend of mine calls this burning the curry. It creates a more powerful and distinct curry sauce) and cook, stirring constantly until curry starts to clump slightly. You can deglaze the pan with a bit of white wine of you like.

Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.

Dissolve cornstarch in about 1/4 cup COLD water. Whisk into boiling stock. Turn down to medium heat and allow sauce to thicken. Taste and add any additional seasoning (if adding additional curry please take care to whisk in, curry can and will clump and well that’s not tasty).

Once sauce is to desired thickness, place chicken back into pan with sauce. Cover and allow until cooked all the way through (approximately 15-20 minutes, less if using chicken breast.)

This dish tastes great with brown rice and steamed veggies. The sauce will help take some of the “edge off of brown rice if you and your family (especially kids) are still getting used to it. If not a brown rice eater and nothing I say will get you to eat it, try a jasmine or basmati rice!

Bon Appetit!

Actually made BBM’s Curry in a Hurry? Send us pictures, we’ll post it to the site!