One of the meals that has become a staple for our family is my chicken curry. In the spirit of deliciousness, and because I just made some and it’s warming my belly as I type, I would like to share my recipe. I’m not saying it’s the best curry, nor the most authentic. It’s just, well, mine. So here it is. Very simple.
2 largish chicken breasts (deboned and skinned)
2 medium sized carrots
1 medium red pepper (sweet)
8 oz or so of broccoli (fresh or frozen: whichever you can get)
1 can of chicken broth or 1 Tbsp of Better than Boullion + 2 cups water
1 can of coconut milk
basmati rice
soy sauce
coconut oil
onion powder
curry powder (yellow)
cumin
corn starch
Gather all of that stuff up. Get a large frying pan, a 1 cup dry measuring cup, a 2 cup liquid measuring cup, a Tbsp, a wooden spoon, or whatever else you think you’ll need to cook some rice and fry some chicken and carrots up.
The first thing you’ll want to do is cook the rice. The following steps will take about as long as two cups of rice take in a rice cooker. I use basmati rice as my go-to choice, but wild, jasmine, and sushi rice have all been good in a pinch.
Once the rice is going, go ahead and heat 2 Tbsp or so of coconut oil in the frying pan over medium heat (see those pretty flames!) and chop up the two carrots while that warms up.

When the coconut oil has completely melted and sizzles when you flip a drop of water into it (careful!), drop the carrots into the middle of the pan, and coat liberally with the curry powder. Add a dash of the onion powder, too. In the background you can see my cheapo tea kettle and the grill I made my daughter’s grilled cheese on (they stuck a bit).

Stir that around until the carrots are completely coated in the oil and the curry powder and onion. Let ‘em sizzle while you chop up the chicken.

I cross-cut the chicken, and then cube it from there. I use a scary-ass knife, too. And yes, please PLEASE make sure you use a clean cutting board. Or at least one that was clean before you cut up the carrots on it. Remember my handy rhyme: “Cut veggies ‘fore meat, both safe to eat. Cut meat ‘fore veggies, salmonella.”

Once the chicken is cubed up, toss it into the frying pan with the by-now-should-be-nearly-soft-but-not-too-much-so carrots. Another sprinkle (read Tbsp) of curry powder.

I mean, I just ate this and it’s looking really good to me. Anyhow. The next step. You need to stir fry the carrots and chicken over medium heat until the largest piece of chicken is just barely cooked through. You don’t want any even close to being raw pieces for the next step. This should take about 8 minutes or so.

Once that’s done, go ahead and add two cups of chicken broth (or warm water and one Tbsp of Better than Bouillon) and a can of coconut milk (I’ve used Goya and Thai Kitchen and I have no preference). It helps if you have your son do the dishes during this part.

Stir that around and add in some more curry powder, a Tbsp or so of cornstarch and a few dashes of cumin. Go wash your cutting board (you should do the washing in this instance).

Once it’s simmering, drop in the broccoli and sliced red pepper. I cut the pepper whole into rings and then cut each ring in half and drop those in there. It’s okay to save a few pieces for yourself at this point. Red pepper is delicious. Also, remember to clean the griddle off after making grilled cheese sandwiches and before you take pictures. I promise you, the griddle was used not five minutes before I started the curry. Can you spot the corn starch I spilled?

At this point, the rice should be done, so turn the flame down low, get a pretty bowl, and scoop about a cup of rice into the depths of it. Don’t pack it in, because you want the curry sauce to begin trickling down through the grains. We use a fork and a spoon to eat this, so pick one or both at your pleasure.
Next comes the doling of the curry. Taste is as much the look as it is the smell and flavor. I like to practice a little Wabi Sabi with my serving skills. This is the bowl I handed to my wife. She’s partial to the broccoli and sauce.

And that’s it! It seems like a lot, but I swear it’s only about 15 – 20 minutes of prep if you use fresh chicken, half an hour if you need to thaw it first. If you start the rice just before chopping the carrots, you can have a pretty tasty meal in about 30 minutes.
The portions here will serve about 6 people with 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of curry each, 4 people if you’re super hungry and/or selfish.
That’s it for now. As I said, I’m not claiming this to be anything more than the recipe I use to dash off a chicken curry for us. It is neither authentic nor researched: I just threw it together about five years ago on a whim and have been tweaking the recipe since. My wife likes it with soy sauce. I can go either way.