Madras Chicken Curry

This was tonight's dinner. It started with a tic I had to try my new slow cooker. I tried looking up slow cooked Indian chicken recipes...all seeming like too much work. Then I remembered I had a new spice that I have never tried: Madras Curry Powder. Rather than let it roll for 5 hours in the slow cooker, I thought I'd try the Madras Curry Powder in my standard chicken curry recipe, and wow did it come out good.

Reading up on Wiki about Madras Curry Powder, it doesn't seem like there is anything special about it that makes it uniquely South Indian. The one I have is Nirav brand, and takes on the same color and smell as the West Indian yellow curry powder you find in regular or gourmet grocery stores. That's why I was curious about it frankly...I thought, I like West Indian curry, but it's really different from regular Indian curry..I wonder how it would taste if I used it in my chicken curry. The result was REALLY good, I have to say.

I didn't do anything different with the usual spices I add--though I omitted the garam masala. Didn't want to over-spice.

Ingredients:

1. Canola Oil

2. 1 tbsp. cumin seeds

3. 1 tbsp. black mustard seeds

4. 10 curry leaves

5. 1 red onion - finely chopped

6. 6-7 cloves of garlic - finely chopped

7. 1-2 inches of ginger root - finely chopped

8. 3-4 green chilis - chopped

9. 1/2 tsp turmeric

10. 1 tsp. red chili powder

11. 1 cup of dry, unsweetened shredded coconut

12. 2 tbsp. madras curry powder (Nirav brand)

13. 2 tbsp. coriander powder

14. 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

15. salt and pepper to taste

16. 2 tomatoes, pureed

Preparation:

Total cooking time is about 1-1.5 hours

Chop the onions, garlic, ginger, and green chilis. Set aside. It's even better if you can puree the garlic/ginger. I threw everything into an electric chopper and got finely diced.

In a big pot, heat the oil until very hot. Add the mustard and cumin seeds. Once the cumin is toasted brown, add curry leaves. Let them sizzle.

Add the onions. Let them sweat and cook until translucent. Toss them around and let them cook. Then put in the garlic, ginger and green chilis. Let these cook for a minute too. Then start adding spices. Make sure the heat is at medium when you start cooking the spices. Add the turmeric, red chili powder, curry powder and coconut. Let them mix around for a bit. If you're not a fan of the texture of dry coconut, that's not going to go away at the end of cooking. In lieu of shredded coconut, you can use lite coconut milk--about half a can--to be added close to the end of cooking, before simmering. DO NOT add both coconut milk AND shredded coconut. You can add a little more oil also at this point, if all the garlic/onion have absorbed all the oil.

Once you've got your masala mixture going, chop the chicken into 1-inch cubes and toss them into the pot. Add salt and pepper at this juncture. You can even season the meat before adding it into the pot with salt/pepper. That will cause the seasonings to stick to the meat through the cooking. Once the chicken is added, toss the whole mixture around. Let it cook for 4-5 minutes, while frequently tossing.

Once the chicken looks white, add the pureed tomatoes. Let this new mixture now cook for about 1-2 minutes. Once the tomatoes are warm and well-incorporated into the masala, then add about a 1/2 cup of water and bring to a boil. Make sure the water is also well-incorporated into the masala.

Once you've brought the pot to a boil, turn heat down to Low and cover. Let the chicken simmer for 15 minutes covered. After 15 min, stir it around and make sure it's not drying out. If it's drying out, add a little more water--about 1/2 cup, just so it doesn't dry out again. Simmering generally brings up water, so you should not have to add too much water. If you see it drying out, it means your heat is probably too high.

After you've stirred it around, cover it again, and simmer it for another 20-30 minutes. After that, the chicken should be fully cooked and tender. You can garnish with cilantro for a fresh finish.