COOKING: Tom’s Curry

One thing I want to do as a chef is expand my repertoire beyond Italian and American dishes. I want to get better at cooking Chinese cuisine from scratch! Indian dishes! Japanese dishes! Give me all the Asian food, please. I love it.

I’ve always been a little intimidated to try anything like curry until my friend Tom shared this very simple, VERY good recipe with me. This is one of my go-to dishes; I make it at least three times a month, it makes a ton of leftovers, and it’s affordable and filling. Win win win win win. Now I feel inspired to try other Asian dishes!

INGREDIENTS

For sweet potatoes:

• 1 small sweet potato

• 1 or 2 Tb olive oil

• 2 tsp curry powder

• salt and pepper

For chicken

• 1 pound chicken thighs

• 1/2 Tb ground garam masala

• 1/2 Tb paprika

• 1/2 Tb ground coriander

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• 1/2 Tb lemon pepper

• 1 Tb brown sugar, packed

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp cayenne or red chili powder

Everything else…

• 2 small onions (or 1 large)

• 5 or 6 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 one-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and fine grated

• 2 Tb neutral oil (I use olive oil)

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 1 tsp chili flakes (you can add a little more if you want it spicier)

• 1 large or 2 regular sized cinnamon sticks

• 1 small can of tomato paste

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 1/2 tsp garam masala

• 1/2 ground turmeric

• 2 tsp salt

• 15 oz. can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

• 1/2 can water (I take the kidney bean can and fill it halfway with water, which is like… 1 cup of water? 3/4 cup? Something like that…)

• half & half or heavy whipping cream (see notes for measurements)

• fresh cilantro (optional)

NOTES: Regarding sweet potatoes: I usually put in 2 small sweet potatoes or 1 large because I like sweet potatoes. Regarding the chili flakes: if you don’t wait it to be spicy, you can leave them out, but I would recommend at least putting a LITTLE bit in; you can handle it! Regarding the ginger: I have used ground ginger when I forget to buy fresh. Fresh is better, of course, but ground ginger will work. (I’ll use like 1 tsp.) Regarding the half & half or heavy cream: the original recipe says to put in 2 tablespoons, but I put in… a lot. LOL. Like 1/2 cup maybe? I like it creamy!

DIRECTIONS

1. PREPARE POTATOES: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dice sweet potato(es) and toss in a bowl with olive oil, curry powder, salt and pepper. Spread onto baking sheet and cook for 25 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

2. PREPARE CHICKEN: Dice chicken into one inch pieces. Put in a bowl with spices, sugar and salt. Toss gently to coat. Cover bowl and set aside.

3. FOR EVERYTHING ELSE: Heat oil in large lidded skillet over medium heat. (I use a 12” skillet because it’s the largest I have.) Add cumin seeds, chili flakes and cinnamon stick(s). When the cumin and chili start to move in the oil, you know the oil is ready.

4. Add onion, garlic, and ginger and sauté until glassy and golden; about 5 minutes.

5. Add prepared chicken and cook until cooked through.

6. Add tomato paste and combine well; cook for about 3 minutes to caramelize the tomato paste. Add coriander, garam masala, turmeric and salt; mix well to combine.

7. Add in prepared sweet potatoes and stir gently.

8. Add drained kidney beans and the 1/2 can of water and mix well (and gently!)

9. Increase the heat to medium high, cover the pan, bring to a boil.

10. Once it boils, reduce the heat to low and simmer (covered) for 5 minutes.

11. Remove from heat, pluck out the cinnamon stick(s), add in half & half or cream.

12. Let it sit for a couple of minutes, then serve over rice! Add cilantro if you want! You can also add a dollop of sour cream or plain greek yogurt if you want.

This is a terrible picture, but I wanted to show you the size of the diced potatoes…

“Glassy and golden” and one GIANT cinnamon stick

The added chicken with all those spices!

The added beans and water and MOAR SPICESSSS!

With the added cream!