Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce with Basil
A change of pace today and a fusion dish that has elements of India and Thailand. Brought to you by a great home cook Stephanie Little who is a paralegal in the law firm of Breit Biniazan where we work. I have known her for almost 30 years and she really believes in delivering great food to her family and her co-workers especially during the holidays. Enjoy.
Ingredients:
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- ¾ cup chopped onion (from 1 medium onion)
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 – 2 jalapeño peppers, minced (remove seeds if you want to cut down on heat in dish)
- 1 14 oz. can coconut milk
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ⅓ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
- 2-3 cups cooked jasmine rice
Instructions:
- Mix all the spices (from the cumin to the turmeric) in a small bowl.
- Place chicken in a large bowl and sprinkle the spice mixture over it. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and jalapeño and cook for about 3 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for one more minute, until fragrant. Remove mixture from skillet and place in a medium size bowl.
- Add remaining tablespoon of oil to the same skillet and add half of the chicken pieces, spreading them out to make sure they’re not overcrowded. Cook for a few minutes on each side to cook through and lightly brown. When cooked through, remove from the skillet and add them to the bowl of onion/jalapeño. Repeat with remaining chicken and remove that to the bowl, too.
- Pour the coconut milk into the skillet to deglaze scraping all the bits from the pan. Cook on medium-high and stir until sauce thickens and starts bubbling a bit. Mix in the Worcestershire sauce.
- Add the chicken and onion/jalapeño mixture back into the skillet, along with basil and ginger and cook for 2 more minutes. Add add’l salt to taste.
- Serve basil chicken over rice. Spoon more coconut curry sauce over the top. Top with more basil if desired.
Enjoy!
