Iraqi Curried Chicken

steve in FL's Note:

I got this recipe from an Iraqi family after the Persian Gulf War when me and my family were camping in northern Michigan. They had left Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait, and I was lucky to be strolling thru the park when I smelt this meal cooking in their cabin. They warmly shared their meal and gave us the recipe. The slow-simmering smells wonderful and the flavor is fantastic. This is not a spicy curry as curries go, so even my kids will eat it. I suppose when our troops start coming home, they just might inundate us with the flavors and recipes they've experienced over there and will want to have them again, just like our ancestors have after coming home from successfully liberating the oppressed countries of the past century. Hope you try this and think of our troops.

• Total Time: 3 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 3 lbs roasting chickens, cut up
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 large onions, slivered
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 (13 ounce) can coconut milk
• salt and pepper, to taste (wait until dish is complete before adding s or p as the broth reduces and would intensify the saltin)

Directions:

1. Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat and add the oil.
2. Add the chicken pieces and cook gently until browned on all sides.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
5. Yes, this is a long simmer for a chicken, but these are the instructions I was given, and when I tried it at home it tasted just like our meal at the camp. The potatoes should just about disintegrate, which thickens the stock, now turned sauce.
6. Note that the fat and bones from the chicken will disengage from the meat - not very palatable for our tastes, but the Iraqi family seemed to have just ate around them. (I remove them and the cinnamon sticks before serving.).
7. Serve over rice. We like to add cooked or steamed vegetables over the rice before drowning it with the curry. Box of frozen broccoli works for us. Oh - they also served whole pita breads with this, which they tore and passed on to one another to tear and pass and use as scoops. Neat!

Reviews

[Gerry]

Great chicken dish! Zaar introduced me to cooking with curry and coconut milk - a wonderful combination that we love. I browned the chicken, sauted the onion, the garlic cloves, added all the ingredients and simmered in the oven as my stove does not do simmer well. The aroma alone makes for a five! Slowly introducing cinnamon to my main dishes so only used half a stick - other then that made as directed with wonderful results. Did skim off the fat- 'fish' out the bones before serving and served over rice. Three large onions, 2 cloves of garlic along with the spices made for plenty of flavor for our tastes. Sopped up the sauce with freshly baked bread. Thank you Steve for a recipe that made for a great evening meal when the temperature with the wind chill dipped below minus 40.

[QStorm]

Nice flavor but small reqard for the amount of work put in.

[Alanna Dean]

This was okay. Very bland for a curry.