Chicken Curry in a Hurry
This dish is so fast that you must begin cooking white rice, the natural accompaniment, before even chopping the onion. That’s because it uses preblended curry powder, one of the original convenience foods, a venerable spice rub and all-purpose flavor booster. I like to use it in tandem with a twentieth-century convenience food, the skinless, boneless chicken breast. Even a breast from a good chicken is about as bland as meat can get, and one from the supermarket is not much more flavorful than unsauced pasta. Curry changes that quickly.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Put the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onion, sprinkle with some salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium, sprinkle with about half the curry powder, and continue to cook for a minute or two.
Step 2
Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle it with the remaining curry powder. Move the onion to one side of the skillet and add the chicken in one layer. Cook for about 2 minutes per side; transfer to a plate.
Step 3
Add the sour cream and stir constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture is nice and thick. Return the chicken to the skillet and cook for 2 more minutes, turning once. Garnish and serve with plenty of white rice.
Variations
Step 4
Chicken Curry with Yogurt: Because yogurt will curdle if it boils, some extra care must be taken here: In step 3, turn the heat to very low and wait a minute before adding the yogurt. Stir the yogurt into the onion and cook, stirring constantly, until the yogurt is hot.
Step 5
Return the chicken to the skillet and cook for 2 more minutes, turning once. At no point should the sauce boil.
Step 6
Add nuts (slivered almonds are best), raisins, and/or dried coconut pieces to the onion as it cooks.
Step 7
Add a couple of small dried hot red chiles or hot red pepper flakes to taste, along with the onion; add more at the end of cooking if you like.
Step 8
Substitute peeled shrimp or thinly sliced beef or pork for the chicken; in each case, cooking time will be marginally shorter.
