Chicken and Potato Curry in a Hurry #FoodieReads

I definitely go through reading phases. This month I have been reading books that take place in South Asia. This post was inspired by The Fortune Teller of Kathmandu by Ann Bennett.

On the Page

I really enjoyed The Fortune Teller of Kathmandu by Ann Bennett. It told a story of World War II that I had never heard: the conflict between the Japanese and the Brits and Indians. A dual timeline story, in 2015 we follow Chloe Harper in a journey to India after her grandmother, Lena, dies; and in 1943 we have Lena's story. Chloe leaves Hampshire to uncover the secrets that Lena took with her to the grave.

Lena, a mixed race child of an Indian woman and a British man, was raised in a strict boarding school until she lands a job with British Lieutenant George Harper. She accompanies George to Nepal and into the Himalayas to recruit Gurkhas for the failing Burma Campaign. As they travel together they become friends.

After going to a fortune teller in Kathmandu, Lena enlists in the Women’s Auxiliary Service Burma (the Wasbies) and risks her life to follow the man she loves to the front line. During her quest to learn about her family's history, Chloe befriends and falls for a Nepalese tour guide named Kiran.

Part historical fiction, part love story, one-hundred percent enjoyable! If either genre is your jam, you will enjoy this one. I certainly did.

On the Plate

There was quite a bit of Indian food in this book.

"[Lena] didn’t have the heart to tell her mother that she couldn’t eat spicy food for breakfast, and in any case, when she bit into the succulent, fresh puris stuffed with peas and spices, they tasted so delicious that she devoured three of them, washed down with the sickly-sweet cardamom chai that Sita had brewed just for her" (pg. 38).

"After a basic lunch of fried rice and vegetable curry, Lena met the driver outside the accommodation block. She got into the front of the Land Rover beside him, and they set off" (pg. 51).

"'And what was the food like, daughter?' ;We ate a lot of dal baht. It was delicious, actually.' Sita eyed her sceptically. 'Tonight I will cook you a Bengal mutton curry, with aloo bhaja, fried potatoes. You look as though you could do with building up'" (pg. 99)

I did make a dahl baht, but I decided to share a chicken potato curry instead. I will share the lentil recipe soon. This is a filling dish that I could envision both couples - Lena and George and Chloe and Kiran - eating this in Nepal.

Curry in a Hurry

After living with lots of different Indians - and I am not being un-politically correct here, I do mean Indians, as in from India - and having lots of Indian friends in college, I learned a couple of things...

Number One: Curry powder is not a specific spice, it's actually a blend of spices. Every time one of my roommates visited her parents, she'd come back with a spice kit. A sensual feast for the eyes - carmine paprika, golden turmeric, sandy ginger - and an assault on the nose - pungent coriander, piquant cardamom, aromatic cinnamon - oh how I coveted that hammered stainless steel tin full of ground spices!

Number Two: Every Indian cook has his or her personal blend of those spices. And curries also vary by geography. For example curries in Kerala, one of the most southern Indian states, include tamarind while Bengali curries utilize mustard seed and mustard oil.

Number Three: Curries can be red, yellow, or green. I still don't have a definitive answer about what makes a curry red while another is yellow. But I suspect, based on curry-fact number two, that the human element makes the difference. If someone uses more turmeric in the curry spice mix, it will be more yellow, more paprika means more red. Sounds plausible, doesn't it?

Number Four: There are also wet curries and dry curries. This simply has to do with how much liquid is used to begin and how long the dish is cooked.

I now have one of those hammered spice tins of my own and I enjoy playing with different combinations of flavors. But for a mid-week dinner, sometimes I cheat and use a pre-blended curry powder. No need to measure tiny amounts of ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, ginger, mustard, black pepper, cinnamon, and cardamon. This is curry in a hurry.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds organic chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized cubes

• 3 to 4 potatoes, cut into bite-sized cubes

• freshly ground salt

• freshly ground pepper

• 2 Tablespoons curry powder, divided

• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 2 Tablespoons chunks

• 1 large onion, peeled and diced (approximately 1-1/2 cups)

• 1 Tablespoon grated ginger (you can omit, if you don't have any, but we love the fresh ginger in this)

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 3” stick cinnamon

• 1 cup tomato sauce

• 1 cup chicken stock

• 1 cup organic coconut milk

• cooked rice for serving

Procedure

In a large mixing bowl, massage the salt, pepper, and 1 Tablespoon curry powder into the chicken. Let stand for 15 minutes.

In a large, flat-bottom pan, cook the onions, ginger, and garlic in 3 Tablespoons butter until softened and the onions begin to turn translucent. Add in the remaining butter and melt. Stir in the remaining curry powder and add cinnamon stick. Cook until fragrant.

Add the chicken to the spiced paste and brown until cooked through, approximately 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the potatoes. Pour in the tomato sauce and chicken stock. Whisk to combine. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes - until the potatoes are fork tender and the sauce is beginning to thicken. Pour in the coconut milk, whisk to combine, and simmer until that it thickened to your liking.

Serve garnished with cooked rice. Enjoy! I also made some buckwheat naan that I will share soon.

I am adding this to the July #FoodieReads link-up.