April 14: Chicken Curry with Rice

In preparation for our Indian cooking lesson on Sunday, I thought I'd try to make a chicken curry myself. I've made similar things in the past, but this was my first "go" at doing it without a recipe. 

Ingredients: chicken, frozen peas, fresh ginger, water chestnuts, coconut milk, mild curry paste and carrots.

First, some reinforcements. I am not a good cook while hungry.

Okay, back at it. Decided to add some cubed potatoes and some minced garlic (not pictured).

I got the ginger all ready to go.

I'll get the lighting right eventually.

Cubed chicken in the pan with some olive oil, minced garlic and the aforementioned ginger.

I mixed in four tablespoons of the curry paste. Last time I made a curry, i thought it was a little weak, so I thought by adding the paste directly to the chicken, it would keep it spicy.

This is also the point when I realized that Paul had a curry at dinner the night before. Oops.

I added in the cubed potatoes and poured in about half the can of coconut milk. I used a whole can before, which I also think contributed to the mildness.

Lastly, added carrots, water chestnuts, and half a bag of frozen peas. I did some quick minute rice in the microwave, while this simmered on the stove. I originally had the heat up high to cook the cubed potatoes, but Paul reminded me that high heat would cook off the sauce.

This is usually the point in a recipe where Paul gets home from work and tells me what I did wrong. You know, when it's almost done.

Final product! Chicken curry on some white rice. 

The spiciness was right on for me. Paul ended up adding some Sriracha to kick it up even more, but he is a crazy person. The larger cubed potatoes were a little crunchy (which frankly, I didn't hate), but if I was going to include them again - I'd probably do a quick boil for them in water so they are a little softer before adding them to the mix.