Comforting Suppers: Warming Coconut Chicken Curry

 How's the weather in your part of the world?  Here, it's cold.  Yesterday we had our first snow-- much earlier than it came last year.  We needed something to warm us up from the inside-out, so I made a favorite: Coconut Chicken Curry.  I'll show you how I made it.  Keep in mind that you can substitute most of the vegetables for whatever you have on hand-- I would just stay away from things like celery, parsnips, and celeriac in this one.

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 Tbs. coconut oil (find it here)
• 1 whole chicken, cut into parts (I kept the wings out, to use them for chicken stock)
• 3 onions, yellow or white
• 3-4 carrots
• 1 turnip
• 1 inch piece of ginger, smashed
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 Tbs. curry powder (find it here)
• 1 tsp. fenugreek seeds (find them here)
• fresh ground pepper
• salt 
• 1 400 mL can coconut milk (not low fat, please!)
• lemon juice, lime juice, or apple cider vinegar
• A small bunch of cilantro

What to do:

1.  In a large pot, heat up your coconut oil over medium heat.  Put the chicken pieces in, skin-side-down, to brown.  You will probably need to do this in a couple batches.  Give them plenty of time-- if you try to turn them too soon, the skin will stick to the bottom.  If they release easily, then they are probably ready to turn.  Brown the other side, too.  You'll have time while they're browning to chop the vegetables! Remove the pieces from the pot when they're browned.

2.  Add your onions to the oil in the pan, and use a wooden spatula to scrape up the bits of chicken stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Let them cook for about 4 minutes or so, then add the carrots and keep scraping for another minute or two.  Salt a little as you go, to build flavor.

3.  Add the spices, ginger and garlic in, and stir them with the vegetables and let them toast in the oil for about a minute-- you don't want them to burn, just to get really fragrant.  

4.  Add the turnips, put the chicken pieces back into the pot, and pour in the coconut milk.  Add a little hot water to the can to rinse and add that to the pot, as well-- the liquid should be about to the chicken on top. 

5. Cover and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, moving things around in there a couple of times while it cooks.  Check for seasoning*, and add lemon juice to taste-- a nice little acid kick here is important for flavor balance.  Add more salt or pepper, if needed.  Top with chopped cilantro right before serving.

*Here's an extra tip for cooking with Indian spices: If you don't think your dish is flavorful enough at the end of cooking, you can add a wonderful, pungent kick of flavor by heating up some oil and toasting more spices and garlic in the hot oil to add to the pot right before you serve.  This is especially great for dishes like lentils, that can get bland as they cook for a long time.

I served ours on top of blanched cabbage ribbons, but it would also be great over rice or rice noodles. This is always a big hit over here, makes great leftovers, and can be made in larger batches.

What's your favorite warming meal?

(This post was shared at Sunday School, Homemade Mondays, Make Your Own Mondays, Monday Mania, Fat Tuesday, Scratch Cookin' Tuesday, Family Table, Party Wave Wednesday, Pennywise Platter, Tasty Traditions, Fight Back Friday, Simple Meals Friday and Freaky Friday.)

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