Slow-Cooker Chicken Coconut Curry Recipe From ‘A Brown Table’
Every week, we’re spotlighting a different food blogger who’s shaking up the blogosphere with tempting recipes and knockout photography. Here, Nik Sharma of A Brown Table gives his grandmother’s chicken coconut curry recipe a modern update thanks to his handy slow cooker.
A slow cooker makes this time-tested recipe a breeze to make. Photo: Nik Sharma
Goan Chicken Curry
Serves 6
This recipe is exactly how I remember my grandmother’s chicken curry tasted. She would serve it with rice and a few other accompaniments for lunch, however at night we’d simply eat it with baked bread and sop up the broth. She was never a big fan of eating rice at night, as she said it was too heavy to eat before bed time.
Simple yet comforting is what this curry is. It’s infused with delicious coconut milk and a blend of aromatic spices. Most Goan curries use fresh coconut milk squeezed from freshly grated coconut to make them hearty and flavorful, but I use canned coconut milk since it is easier to find when fresh coconuts are not in season.
You can use substitute any kind of dried chilies in this recipe, but I prefer to use Kashmiri chilies and always keep them on hand. Otherwise, even fresh green or red Thai chilies would be great here.
I was nervous at first about using a slow cooker for preparing this curry, but it turned out to be so easy with minimal work and reminded me so much of my grandmother’s curry, that I had to share it with you.
4 dried Kashmiri chilies
1 teaspoon cilantro/coriander seeds
½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
½-inch piece ginger root, peeled and minced fine
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
6 chicken drumsticks or thighs, skin removed
2 cups reduced-fat coconut milk
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 medium-sized onion (about 1 ½ to 2 cups chopped)
4 large tomatoes (about 3 cups chopped)
1 teaspoon tamarind paste
Salt, to taste
Cilantro leaves, to garnish
Heat a skillet on a medium flame and roast the chilies, cilantro seeds, and peppercorns. As soon as you smell the aromatics (this will take less than a minute or two), remove the spices from the pan and grind them in a processor or coffer grinder with the garlic and ginger.
Set the slow cooker to the high heat setting and time to 5 hours. Add the ground spices, the chicken, and the rest of the ingredients, except for the salt. Stir the contents once and cover with the cooker with the lid. You can occasionally stir the chicken curry during the cooking process after one hour.
After 5 hours, the curry will be done and the chicken will be soft and tender. At this point season with salt according to taste. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and serve hot with plain rice.
More slow-cooker gems:
Dark beer–braised short ribs for when you need something hearty
The ultimate slow-cooker pot roast heaped with carrots and onions
Corned beef and cabbage that’s a total breeze to make
Do you have a slow cooker? Tell us your favorite recipe below!
