I could stay home all day, chopping and peeling, sauteing and broiling away in the kitchen...but Mark always seems to rave the most over meals that I bung together in the crock pot and let cook all day at work. Go figure. Ok, in truth, this one really was a keeper. The chicken was cooked perfectly, not too dry and the sauce had a chance to really develop lots of deep flavors and heat. I could and will make this meal over and over because I loved it so much. The idea is to create a liquid base that will poach the chicken slowly all day. I added lots of spices and salt to bring everything together. Then I added chopped apricots. Bam! A bit of their mellow sweetness to cut through the heat is all kinds of amazing. Then again, in my world, adding coconut milk to anything makes it a sensation, so it is hard to take my word for it, but if you like curry, I highly recommend this dinner. I think you will fall in love too.
Crock Pot Curry ChickenIngredients:
2 bone-in chicken breasts
1 onion
1 jalapeno
2 Tbs. curry powder
1 tsp. garam marsala
1 tsp. cumin seeds
2 cloves garlic
1 can coconut milk
1/2 light beer
1/2 cup dried apricots
1 cinnamon stick and 1 star anise (optional)
Side Note: My mom loves to throw a bunch of whole spices (cinnamon stick, cloves, all spice, star annise, etc.) into a small pot of water and bring it to a simmer until it perfumes the whole house with the delicious smells of autumn. I love doing this now myself, so that is why I usually have a cinnamon stick handy. You can just add a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, anything you like to the curry to give a depth of flavor.
1. Place the chicken breasts in the crock pot and sprinkle with 1 Tbs. salt.
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2. Add the coarsely chopped onion and jalapeno to the pot along with the spices.
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3. Add the coconut milk and 1/2 the beer and with another 1 Tbs. salt
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4. Chop the apricots in half and add them to the pot.
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5. Mix everything together (I used my hands) so that it is well combined and cook on the lowest setting (mine is 'Warm') for 8 hours.
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6. When you get home, you will have a rich sauce with so much flavor and 2 perfectly poached chicken breasts.
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7. I removed the chicken breasts from the sauce, removed the skin and bones, sliced the breast into pieces and returned to the sauce to serve.
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I like it with rice or cous cous.
One Year Ago:
Mustard Roasted Pork Loin
YES YES YES. This is my cup of tea!
ReplyDeleteI'm trying this tonight and I'm super excited to see how it turns out!! :) Thanks for a wonderful blog!
ReplyDeleteI hope you like it! You'll have to let me know how it went.
ReplyDelete