Mirj's Hodi Chicken -- a Curry Creation

Mirj's Note:

This recipe is an Indian twist based on one of my favorite creations (Chicken Breasts with Balsamic Onion Jam). I serve this on plain basmati rice or couscous. It's been a big hit recently in my family. I like to use chicken breasts, but you can also use 2 chickens, cut up into servings. As an aside, my trick to grating fresh ginger is to store it in the freezer, then grate the frozen root on a Microplane grater.

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 16

Chicken Bit

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (or two chickens, cut up into serving pieces)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• sweet paprika
• fresh ground black pepper , to taste
• salt , to taste

Sauce Bit

• 3 large onions
• ½ cup vegetable oil (I use olive oil)
• 4 garlic cloves , finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated gingerroot
• 1 tablespoon garam masala or 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• fresh ground black pepper , to taste
• 2 cups coconut milk
• salt , to taste
• 2 red peppers , cut into large pieces

Directions:

1. Cut up the chicken breasts into 3 inch pieces, or into any size you prefer.
2. Marinate the chicken breasts in the olive oil, paprika, black pepper and salt. Give it a good massage, a relaxed chicken is a tasty chicken. You don't have to marinate this for long, 10 minutes should be enough, but overnight works just as well.
3. Brown the chicken until cooked through. I just brown it in the marinade, but you may want to add some more oil to the pan if you think it needs it.
4. Set aside.
5. To make the sauce, coarsely chop the onion.
6. Saute the onions in the vegetable oil until wonderfully caramalized and golden brown.
7. Add the garlic, ginger, garam masala, brown sugar and black pepper. Give it all a good stir.
8. Add the coconut milk. Keep the sauce on a boil until it has cooked down to the consistency you prefer. YOU DECIDE this part, you can have it thick and gooey or keep it more liquidy and saucy.
9. Once it has reached the your preferred consistency, add the salt to taste.
10. Add the red pepper pieces and cook for another three minutes or so, stirring constantly until slightly softened by the heat of the sauce.
11. Add the cooked chicken to the sauce, mix to cover and heat through.
12. Serve over plain rice or couscous.

Reviews

[JennPoyer]

Combination of the coconut milk and spices in this dish make it a new family favorite. I made it last week and they are already requesting it again! Making this for dinner tonight! I played with the amount of ingredients for the spices based on what my family likes, my husband actually thought it was chicken curry and he asked how my chicken curry is so good and how the restaurants can never make it taste this good! :D I also cut up the chicken into smaller pieces so it would cook faster, the recipe allows for this type of versatility (and the added humor in the directions was an excellent touch). THANK YOU for posting this recipe, I look forward to making this on many nights to come~

[bshemyshua]

I had one lone chicken breast in my fridge that needed to be used. And orignally was looking up her recipe for morrocan style chicken, when I saw this. I am learning to enjoy curries and indian style food so I wanted to try this for myself. And I'm very glad I did! mildly spiced, but still very flavorful. A very special treat. Will be making this again.