Eye for a Recipe

Here’s another new find from the Autumn 2011 issue of Food and Drink. We love curry, and I especially like ones that do not use coconut milk, which I find to be very rich and oily. This recipe uses chicken thighs (another plus in my book) and is ready in about 40 minutes. All you do is throw the sauce ingredients into your food processor, brown the chicken thighs, top with the sauce and a little stock and simmer until done. On my stovetop, the thighs took longer than 4 minutes a side to brown – it was more like 8 minutes a side. I used unsalted cashews to lower the recipe’s sodium content. The recipe suggests trying the same sauce with shrimp, which I think would also be very tasty.

To avoid additives and preservatives in this recipe, use nuts, yogurt and curry paste with no artificial ingredients. I used Astro Original brand Balkan-style yogurt and Thai Kitchen brand green curry paste.

Ingredients:

¾ cup roasted cashews (salted or unsalted)

1/3 cup plain yogurt

¼ cup roughly chopped cilantro

1 tbsp chopped fresh peeled gingerroot

1 tbsp mild or hot curry paste

1 tbsp brown sugar

½ tsp each salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp canola oil

2 lbs chicken thighs

½ cup chicken broth

Preparation:

In a food processor, blend cashews until finely chopped. Add yogurt, cilantro, gingerroot, curry paste, brown sugar, salt and pepper and process until smooth.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown chicken thighs until very browned, 4-8 minutes a side. Scrape all of the sauce over the chicken with chicken broth. Stir until blended, reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cover. Cook until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Let sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Serve over steamed basmati rice and garnish with chopped roasted cashews and cilantro. Serves 4.

From the Autumn 2011 issue of Food and Drink