South Indian Coconut Chicken Curry

This is a pretty quick curry to throw together that combines traditional "curry" powder with the sweetness of coconut milk.

South Indian Coconut Chicken Curry

(from here)

1 lb, boneless, skinless chicken breast
3 tablespoons oil
3 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 medium onions, diced
1 teaspoon garlic minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon garam masala
14.5 oz can coconut milk
1/4 cup dried coconut
1 tablespoon tomato paste

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Begin by prepping the onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic. 

Onions

Tomatoes

Ginger/garlic

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Begin by heating the oil in a large pan over medium heat.

Add the cardamom pods, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds.

Cook until the seeds pop and give off a strong smell. Less than 60 seconds.

Add the onions to the pan and stir well to combine.

Cook for 5 minutes or until they have softened considerably.

Add the ginger and garlic.

Cook for 1 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the tomatoes.

Cook for 3-5 minutes or until they begin to break down a bit.

Toss in the chicken, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon curry powder, and 1 tablespoon garam masala.

My chicken was straight from the freezer. It's ok, we need to let this simmer a while anyway, so it'll be plenty of time for the chicken to cook.

Pour in the can of coconut milk.

Give everything a stir and let simmer for about 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, add the coconut and give it a stir.

Finally, add the tomato paste.

Let this simmer for about 20 minutes or until it tightens up to a nice, sauce-like consistency. 

I let mine go for about a half hour and broke up the chicken into bite sized chunks with a spatula, right  in the pan.

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Serve with basmati rice and some Indian flat bread.

Overall this was a pretty good dish. Different than a lot of the other Indian food I've cooked in the past, but still very good.

Enjoy!