Indian Chicken Curry

Indian Chicken Curry + Indian Cauliflower Rice

The problem with most Paleo/Primal/clean recipes out on the Internet these days is that they're all the same damn thing.  Almost all try too hard to "Paleo-ize" the dish.  This goes from adding that extra cup of veggies to make the carb/protein/fat ratios in the Zone Diet to going to trying very hard to make it look like the real deal for that one food porn shot.  With all that energy and focus devoted to aesthetics and Paleo-izing, so many of these recipes fail to incorporate the essential flavors and methods crucial to what makes the dish, the dish.

Alright, I'm done ranting.  Please don't take offense.  Anyway, here's a unique Indian curry recipe that actually taste like it could be from India.  I was hooked on it for awhile!  Though not a quick dish to make, we took the time to properly create the paste, revisit, and enhance.

A few heads up: If you're going to substitute coconut milk for heavy cream, please refrigerate a can of coconut milk upside down the night before.  Before making the curry, the chicken needs to marinate for a few hours.  Indian spices can be found at an Indian grocery store (there is one in Sunnyvale on El Camino for those of you in the Bay Area).

Oh yeah, the curry is awesome with the Indian-style Cauliflower Rice.

Tools:

• Large Mixing Bowl
• Pressure Cooker
• Food Processor

Ingredients for the Chicken Marinade:

• 4-5lb Chicken (drumsticks, thighs, breast, combination, whatever), bone-in (or 2# without bones)
• 1/2 cup White Wine.  I used Chardonnay
• 1 Tbsp Tumeric
• 1 Tbsp Chili Powder

Ingredients for the Curry:

• Chicken and juices from above
• 4 Tbsp Ghee
• 1 Tbsp Black Mustard Seeds
• 3 Red Onion, sliced in half, thinly
• Knob of Ginger, finely minced
• 1 Jalapeno, seeds out, finely minced
• 7 cloves of Garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 cup Coconut Flakes
• 1 Roma Tomato, sliced
• 1 can Coconut Milk, refrigerated upside down the night before (or 1.25 cup heavy cream)
• 1 cup Cashews, toasted
• 1/4 tsp Cardamom, ground
• 1 tsp Methi Seeds
• 2 big tsp Coriander, ground
• 2.5 heaping tsp Garam Masala
• 1-2 tsp Chili Powder (to liking)
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 1 cup Water
• Sea Salt, to taste

2. Ingredients, lots of spices!

Instructions for the Chicken Marinade (2-3 hours beforehand):

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix in everything: the chicken, 1/2 cup of white wine (I used Chardonnay), 1 Tbsp Turmeric, and 1 Tbsp Chili Powder.  Be careful not to get Turmeric on your shirt!

   

   
   

   2. Before mixing.
2. Mix in the chicken and coat evenly.  Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

   

   3. Chicken Marinade

Immediately start making the sauce using the same cast iron skillet.  Haha, this sauce is pretty much just butter, so please use quality butter.

Instructions for the Curry:

1. Gather ingredients.  Use a food processor to mix and finely chop the knob of ginger, jalapeno (seeds out), and 7 cloves of garlic.  Do not discard chicken marinade.  Slice the tomato.  Cut the 3 red onions in half and slice them thinly.  Yes, all this will reduce into a paste.  Haha.
2. In the pressure cooker, uncovered, melt 4 Tbsp of Ghee and 1 Tbsp of Black Mustard Seeds over medium heat.  Cook until seeds are popping.
3. When the black mustard seeds are popping, put in the 3 Red Onion (thin half slices).  Bring the heat down to medium-low so it doesn't burn.  Sprinkle some sea salk and stir.  Cook until the red onion is soft.
   
   
   5. Reducing the onion.
4. When there is no more liquid left from the onion, pour enough water to submerge the onion.  Cover the pressure cooker.

   

   6. Before pressure cooker magic.
5. Turn the heat up to high to build pressure in the pressure cooker.  When the knob is going and it's hissing, bring the heat down slightly to maintain the pressure and cook for 15 minutes.  Before removing the lid, please remember to cool the pressure cooker with running cold water until it stops hissing! 
   

   

   
   

   7. After, 15min later.
6. Now time to boil it down again, uncovered, over medium heat.  This can take 15-20 minutes so you can do some chopping during this time, or prepare the Indian-style cauliflower rice.  We want the mixture to become pasty.
7. Once the mixture is almost pasty, add a 1/2 cup of coconut flakes.
8. When the water is really starting to leave and the boiling gets louder, you need to start stirring consistently.  When the water is almost gone, add the minced garlic, ginger, and jalapeno combo.  Keep stirring consistently.

   

   8. Red onion paste.
9. When there is no more water, turn the heat down to low and add the spices: 1/4 tsp Cardamom, 1 tsp Methi Seeds, 2 big tsp Coriander, 2.5 heaping tsp Garam Masala, and chili powder.  Add the chili powder in 0.5 tsp increments until your likings.  I used 2 tsp of chili powder.  Mix well and cook for another 5-10 minutes.  If it gets too thick, add a splash of water to keep it pasty

   

   8. Curry paste created.
10. Once the spices are mixed in well, and the mixture is pasty, add the chicken and the marinade juices.  Add the sliced tomato and a cup of water.  Top it off with 2 bay leafs.  Put the pressure cooker cover back on.

    

    8. Before pressure cooking again.  Solids added.
11. Bring the heat up to medium to build pressure.  Medium heat since we have solids now.  Once you hear a light hissing turn the heat down to medium low.  Cook for 15 minutes after the pressure is reached. 
12. Meanwhile, use the food processor to chop, mix and blend 1 can of coconut milk (should have been refrigerated upside down the night before) with 1 cup of toasted cashews.  Instead of the coconut milk, you can use 1.25 cups of heavy cream.
13. Once the curry is done cooking, remove the lid (remember to cool the pressure cooker before removing the lid).  Remove and discard the two bay leaves.  Turn the heat up to medium and cook for another 10-15 minutes, uncovered.  Stir occasionally.

    

    8. Afterwards.  Bay leaves removed.
14. Turn the heat down to low and mix in the cashew-cream blend.
    

    

    9. Almost done!

Paired with Indian-style cauliflower "rice."

10. Indian-style cauliflower rice.

Now put the two together.

11. Though a terrible shot, I assure you it's yumzzzzz.

Hope you guys enjoy this dish just as much as I did!  For those of you on the Paleo Challenge and perhaps sick of coconut and guacamole, it's a great dish to wrap things up!

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