When James moved from the steepled city of London to the steepled city of Boston in 2014 (fun fact! James emigrated on my birthday! #destiny), he brought these little BBC cookbooks with him. They’re tiny little 6-inch-by-6-inch jobbies, and they look like cookbooks for children, or really dated cookbooks that rely too heavily on processed ingredients. I thought it was super cute when he opened them up to look for recipes, like he was still living in the 2000’s while I was on the internet scouring for the newest and best food trends.
But these books have really exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations! They are little gold nuggets of recipe books, offering truly easy, truly delicious recipes by focusing on simple ingredients in flavorful combinations. We’ve made a few things from these books already, but my favorite so far is definitely this creamy, nutty, fresh green chicken curry. And the good thing about these books is that they don’t pretend that their recipes are anything they’re clearly not. This curry is not “authentic” – I don’t even know what region it would be authentic to. India? Thailand? Britain?? It is not farm-to-table, relying on storebought Greek yogurt and peanut butter for much of the flavor. It will not compete with a curry with 10 ingredients just in the spice list and requiring a mortar and pestle to execute.
But this curry is a filling, hearty dish that we’ve made many times on a weeknight, that uses ingredients that will take you probably five minutes to find and buy, and that tastes more complex and delicious than its ingredients would lead you to believe, because it focuses on the basics and enlists flavor bombs like garlic, ginger, serrano peppers, and peanut butter. It gets some of its ease by enlisting the use of a food processor, which is sort of annoying for me, since I hate washing that thing up. But today, I threw the parts in the dishwasher and ran that baby, even though it was really only half full. Hey – carefree wife, carefree life! (No, not really, that was just a joke – I’m not solely responsible for the level of anxiety in James’s and my marriage!)
Some notes:
- I used regular Skippy peanut butter because that was all I had, but natural peanut butter will work fine too.
- I used chicken thighs because I like dark meat and it’s less likely to overcook, but breasts will also work just as well here.
- Yes, I goofed and accidentally put all of the cilantro in the food processor. Sigh. Don’t worry – we’ve also made it the right way. Processing all of the cilantro wasn’t too big of a deal, I think it just resulted in less pronounced cilantro flavor overall in the final dish, and a soupier, less pretty curry.
- I’ve never worked with paneer before, but my guess is that it would work here as a vegetarian substitute (with vegetable stock). I don’t think the final dish would be too creamy… if you try this / have any more insight, please let me know!
- This recipe is obviously not for those people who think cilantro tastes like soap. I am not one of those people, clearly, and I adore cilantro. You’ll be like, really?? The entire bunch of cilantro?? But the flavor is not overwhelming by any means, and besides, when was the last time you used up an entire bunch of cilantro before it went bad? Like, never, right? This time, though, you’re socking it to the gods in charge of sad herb spoilage. Be triumphant in your defiance!
We served this with white rice and sauteed spinach (very green dinner!). Total time to dinner, including sides: about 45 minutes.
| Servings | Fuss Factor | Total Time | Prep Time | Cook Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4-5 | 1 | 30 minutes | 15 minutes | 15 minutes |
Nutty Cilantro Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 1 large serrano chili pepper, 2 if you want more spice
- Small knob of ginger, roughly chopped (about 1 1/2 tablespoons worth)
- 3-4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 bunch cilantro, tough stems removed and roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs, cut into large chunks
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
- 1 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt (my Greek friend says Fage is the best supermarket brand)
Instructions
-
Put the chili pepper, ginger, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely minced. Add about 1/3 of the cilantro and process until it becomes a rough paste.
-
Heat the oil in a large skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat until hot and almost smoking. Add the chicken, season with salt and black pepper, and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides.
-
Stir in the cilantro paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the peanut butter, stock or broth, and yogurt, and stir to combine. When the sauce is gently bubbling, turn down the heat to medium and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is slightly thickened, 7-10 minutes. If the sauce gets too thick, add a splash more stock.
-
When the curry is done, stir in the remaining cilantro, leaving a handful aside for garnish, if desired. Serve with rice, scattering the garnishing cilantro on top.