Curried Chicken

Fern and I were in the mood for something lighter, I suggested curry and Fern agreed. I also bought a pot of arugula for the garden and decided to make a little salad/garnish instead of green peas. I diced an onion and started it caramelizing.  While that was going I diced up the chicken into half inch pieces. 

When the onions had acquired some color I added the meat, salt and extra oil. Get a good sear all around the chicken. I should have taken the chicken out at this point and added it back after the sauce had reduced so the meat won't be rubbery but I got lazy and left it in. I added some diced mixed pepper. Then sprinkled 2 to 3 tablespoons of curry powder, mixed pepper and a bit of cayenne over everything and stirred it a bit.  Then I added a whole can of coconut milk and a bit of tinned pineapple juice.

I reduced the coconut milk by about half to a thick sauce.  This is when the chicken should have gone back in. Next the pineapple chunks and I put some chopped chives and parsley in the curry stirred it in. For the salad garnish I had a few leaves of arugula and two trimmed romaine leaves.  In my salad bowl I whisked up some oil plus extra virgin oil, about 2 tsp.  I added 1 tsp rice vinegar, salt, black pepper chives and parsley. Whisk. Toss and garnish the plate. Plate the rice then the curry over top. Sprinkle parsley over top and serve.

I was out of my usual Madras curry powder and this bulk bin stuff had a bitter after taste I didn't like.  Fortunately the bitter taste went away after the first bite but it still set the stage in a poor light. Maybe it's time I learned how to mix my own curry powder. Otherwise the meal was quite good.

Fern didn't like having a cold salad on a plate with hot food, it should have been on a separate plate. That means I'm back to making peas for the plate anyway, but I can do them in microwave so it's not that  much extra work. The little bit of peppery salad was welcome with the curry.