Live and learn! Up until about two hours ago, I thought curry dishes got their spice from a curry plant. Apparently that isn’t so. I wanted to fix this recipe for Basil Chicken Coconut Curry and expected to use a teaspoon or so of curry powder but when I began pulling out lots of spices but no curry powder, I began to wonder. Then as I got the recipe all stirred up, I thought . . this tastes just like curry so I began doing a little research.
This article is great. So much of it was a surprise to me. Curry isn’t even really an Indian dish! Why do all Indian restaurants have curry? There is a curry plant but the leaves are not edible. I’m lucky I didn’t buy a curry plant and stick the leaves in a dish and expect it to taste like the curry we know and love.
The changes I made:
- I used leftover chicken from a chicken I roasted yesterday.
- I used less turmeric – the recipe called for 1/2 tsp. and I used somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2. I would say 3/8 tsp. but then someone would be trying to buy a 3/8 tsp. measuring spoon. I’m sure they make them but not in any of my sets so I just guessed.
- Vince likes veggies so I sauteed zucchini, yellow squash and sugar snap peas and added those at the end.
It was really good and something I’ll make again.
Cinda Moulds says
That recipe looks and sounds delicious. Was the coconut flavor very pronounced with the other flavors?
Judy Laquidara says
I asked Vince and he said no. If someone doesn’t like coconut, they might say yes though. I love everything I’ve ever made with coconut milk but I like coconut. So .. I’m not real sure what to tell you. I think if you weren’t sure you might try adding half a can of coconut milk and half a can of chicken broth.
Cinda Moulds says
Thank you. Using half the amount is a great idea.
Cilla says
I believe curry is Thai.
Cindy F says
Loved reading the article…I grew up eating Japanese curry and years ago was surprised to learn it didn’t originate there. I had some curry last night. 🙂
Judy Laquidara says
Isn’t it eye opening sometimes when we learn that what we thought we knew wasn’t correct? I had never seen a recipe for curry that didn’t call for curry powder or paste. Making my own was easy and delicious and reading about it was intriguing. I wanted to read more but had to stop and get dinner going.
Rebecca says
Looks good to me! John doesn’t like thighs, though…he just doesn’t know what he’s missing.
I like recipes where you make up your own spice mix. You can really adjust it if you like.
I have seen recipes that call for a curry leaf, but have never found them in a store. I just looked them up, and they are banned from import (fresh) in the US and UK for disease/pest problems. One article said they freeze well, so I guess if someone grows them here, they’d be usable.
Rebecca says
Oh, and I forgot to say that curry simply means sauce in India. It’s kind of like saying “salsa” or “pesto”…there can be many, many variations.
Judy Laquidara says
I read that they weren’t edible but maybe that means you don’t want to chew it up but the flavor it imparts would be fine. Who knows.
Rebecca says
That’s what I thought…like bay leaves, maybe
Deb E says
Looks yummy – saved the recipe to try it. Interesting that curry powder is actually a mixture of spices, including our favorite, tumeric. We take capsules of that everyday for inflammation, and have for years — what a difference in our knees & back those capsules make!