Curry Chicken

I love Indian food and I was taught how to cook the basic Indian foods by an incredible lady from Bikaner India. The whole magic of any curry dish lies in the spices. If you love Indian then it is worth the effort it takes to go to an Indian grocer and buy the necessary spices; curry powder and garam masala. My lessons were quite involved and required a lot of interpretation, I was told to cook until “looking nice”. I didn’t know what to do with these instructions but now after years of making the same dishes I know exactly what she means, you cook until “looking nice”!
Here is her recipe for curry chicken but you can substitute the meat for beef or pork.

3 Tbsp butter
2-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp garam masala
Hot chilli pepper to taste
1 tsp salt
1 cup coconut milk
2 plum tomatoes diced, seeded and mashed or 1 tsp tomato paste
¼ cup fresh coriander, minced

In large skillet, heat butter. Brown onion and garlic until golden brown, this should take at least 12-15 minutes, don’t try to rush this process. Once onion and garlic are a beautiful golden colour add curry powder, garam masala, salt and hot chilli pepper. Stir over med heat until evenly mixed (1 minute). Add tomato paste or plum tomatoes and stir for 1 minute. If using tomato paste ¼ cup of water should be added so the spices and chicken will not stick to pan. Add chicken pieces and stir frequently adding small amounts of water as needed so as to not have the chicken stick to the bottom of pan. Cook for 5 minutes over high heat.

Add coconut milk, continue cooking 5 minutes. Add coriander, season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve over basmati rice.