Y is for Yellow: Yellow Curry (Jessica)

Happy May!

The past few days haven't felt particularly spring-like, what with the grey clouds and slight drizzle this week, but hopefully soon it will be warm and sunny again..like this afternoon :) Pretty soon, I'll be making more Spring-like recipes. In the meantime, this past weekend, I made Yellow Curry---a good cold night recipe.

Really, one of my coworkers made the suggestion for this and I had never tried a curry recipe before, so it seemed like a good opportunity! Combined with some brown basmati rice and naan (from the frozen section at Trader Joe's), it was ALMOST like we went out for Indian food. This recipe was pretty good, but beware: cayenne pepper is spicy! ;)

Yellow Curry
from http://allrecipes.com
serves 3-4

Ingredients: 

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts - cut into bite-size pieces
• Potatoes (I used fingerling potatoes cut in half, poked with a fork, and microwaved for 2-3 minutes)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less!)

Directions: 

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until lightly browned. Stir in garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, ginger, sugar and salt. Continue stirring for 2 minutes. 
2. Add chicken pieces, softened potatoes, tomato paste, yogurt, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. 
3. Stir in lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Simmer 5 more minutes. 

Review: 
I thought this recipe was pretty good, but there are a few things I would do differently if doing it again. I would definitely reduce the cayenne pepper amount (I'm a wimp when it comes to spicy food, and 1/2 teaspoon was too much for me!). I would also skip the lemon juice, I just don't think this recipe needs it at all. It didn't really go with the rest of the flavors. I tend to like the tomato based Indian dishes, so I might up the tomato paste amount in this recipe as well. This was definitely an easy one though, so try it and adjust it to what YOU want! Just don't forget the naan. :)

YUM,

-Jessica


PS. As we're basically at the completion of the alphabet a second time, I'm sure you're wondering what will happen now. Well, dear readers, we'll make an official announcement soon!

PPs. Jen's next challenge is: Zabaglione!