Raghavan Iyer's Chicken Simmered in a Coconut Milk-Vinegar Sauce from 660 Curries

Here's another chicken curry for ya'll (no, I'm not from the South) to try!  This was a last minute sort-a curry, but I can't really remember how I landed on it (there's so many to choose from!) ... my thought process probably went something like this

Chicken doesn't need to be marinated? ... check. 

Do I have all the ingredients listed? ... check.  

Simple process?... check.  

Done!  

As you can see in the first photo, this is a vindaloo... which equals spicy, but in my opinion the coconut milk significantly cuts down the heat.  You can still make this recipe and tailor it for your tolerance level, but if you're not into spicy food, I'd recommend trying another chicken curries with more flavor (check out some of my past posts!).  

So, here's the recipe: 

Chicken Simmered in a Coconut Milk-Vinegar Sauce

Ingredients: 

As I have now cooked a significant number of curries from this cook book, I prefer a higher ratio of curry (sauce) to chicken.  I have tailored my recipe accordingly.  

• 2 tablespoons of oil (I used coconut oil, recipe calls for canola)
• 1 medium sized red onion, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 300 grams of chicken breast cut up into approximately 1 inch cubes
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar (I didn't have enough vinegar so I used up what I had and filled the remainder with cider vinegar per the suggestion in the book)
• a couple cloves of garlic minced
• 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds, ground (freshly ground is best)
• 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds, ground (freshly ground is best)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper mixed with 3/4 teaspoon of sweet paprika (the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of ground Kashmiri chiles, but since I don't have this I used the replacement)
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

Directions: 

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Once warm, add the onion and cook until light brown until light brown around the edges (stir so they don't burn), about 3-5 minutes. 
2. Lower the heat to medium and add the chicken pieces.  Cook until they have browned, about 2-3 minutes per side.  Transfer the chick and onion to a plate. 
3. Pour the vinegar into the skillet and add the minced garlic, ground coriander, ground cumin, cayenne, Kashmiri chiles (or replacement), salt and turmeric.  Scrape the bottom of the skillet to deglaze.  Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally until some of the oil starts to separate around the edges of the skillet and on the surface.  
4. Stir in the coconut milk, and return the chicken to the skillet.  Cook, covered stirring occasionally, until the meat in the thickest parts of the chicken is no longer pink inside and the juices run clear, about 18 to 20 minutes.  Cook longer if desired to thicken the sauce (note the original recipe calls to remove the chicken and then thicken the curry  separately... I chose not to do this for the sake of time and convenience!).  

• Raghavan mentions that cider or malt vinegar can be used instead of white wine vinegar for a sweeter tasting sauce.  As I mentioned above, I used cider vinegar out of necessity.  I didn't detect much sweetness, so it's subtle at most.  

Note, I served with rice, as is pretty much always standard for me.  You could certainly serve with naan or roti, but I find the rice soaks up the curry best, also cutting a bit of the heat.  

Hope you enjoy this curry!

Raghavan Iyer's Green Mangoes with a Yogurt-Toasted Coconut Sauce from 660 Curries

Gah!  I know it's been over 2 months since I last posted.  My computer died and for a while we thought it was completely kaput, but it turns out some love at the (look-alike) Apple store did it some good ... so now we're up and running and I have a lot of backlog topics I really want to share with you all... so bare with me as I get through it all. 

Last weekend, my husband bought mangoes at the fresh market in Wonsel and while one of them was this delicious, juicy, sweet mango.... the other, unfortunately and disappointingly (!) was not ripe enough.  In seeing that it wasn't ready for eating, I quickly consulted my good old Indian curry cook book, 660 curries... thinking if I was going to find a mango curry, it would only be there!  I was in luck, as you can see from the photo below, and this dish was soooooo delicious!  The combination of the tart and sweet mango with the savory and nutty taste of the coconut flakes and coconut milk were an awesome combination!  There was a lot of heat in this dish which contrasted to the sweetness of the mango and the creaminess of the coconut milk well.  DELISH!

So, here's the recipe: 

Green Mangoes with a Yogurt-Toasted Coconut Sauce

Ingredients: 

• 2 large green (unripe) mangoes, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I used 1 green mango, because that's what was available to me and it was slightly ripened... i.e. the flesh had some sweetness, but you wouldn't have found it very good to eat plain)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 tablespoons canola oil (I used coconut oil)
• 1 cup shredded fresh coconut (I used coconut flakes, the were not fresh, but they weren't dried such that they needed to be reconstituted - they are for snacking, but you know.... )
• 1 tablespoon yellow split peas
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorn
• 1 or 2 fresh green thai chilies (or whatever type of spicy chili you have available, add to your taste level) 
• 1 or 2 dried Thai chilies (or whatever type of spicy chili you have available, add to your taste level; I used Italian pepporncini since that's what we currently have in the house!)
• 1 tablespoon crumbled (or chopped) jaggery or firmly packed dark brown sugar (I used brown sugar)
• 1/2 cup thick yogurt (I used greek yogurt)
• 1/2 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds (I used black, for no particular reason as I have both)
• 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

Directions: 

1. Combine the mangoes, salt turmeric, and 3 cups of water in a medium-size saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Continue to boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the mangoes are tender but still firm looking, about 8 to 10 minutes. 
2. In the meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the coconut, split peas, peppercorns, and the fresh and dried chilies, and stir-fry until the coconut is toasted (brown colored), and the chilies are blistered slightly.  Approximately 5 minutes. 
3. Drain the mangoes reserving 1 cup of the yellow broth they cooked in. 
4. Pour 1/2 cup of the reserved mango broth into the coconut mixture and scrape the bottom of the skillet to deglaze it, releasing any browned bits of coconut.  Transfer the mixture to a blender jar and puree until a gritty like past speckled with spices. 
5. Return the drained mangoes to the same saucepan thy cooked in, and add the coconut paste (I used a plastic spatula - typically used for baking - to get all of the paste out of the jar).  Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of reserved broth into the skillet. Add the brown sugar and stir in.  Cook the mixture over medium heat, uncovered, stirring occasionally (until the jaggery dissolves, if using).  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yogurt. 
6. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a small skillet over medium high heat.  Once warm, add mustard seeds and cover quickly.  Allow the mustard seeds to stop popping and then add the fenugreek seeds.  The fenugreek seeds will quickly brown and emit a nutty smell.  Remove from heat and pour over the curry.  Stir to combine and serve! 

I looked in the book for a recommendation of what to serve this curry with and didn't find anything.  I ended up choosing white rice, which worked out really well as it mopped up the curry pretty well without changing the taste of it! 

Hope you try it!  Happy curry-ing!