It has taken me a long time to stop reaching for that can of Coconut milk whenever I want to cook a mean curry. Coconut milk just tastes soooo good in curries. Sigh! But, because eating healthy these days is on our agenda, I thought I would try going without it and see what results it will yield. Yesterday called for a perfect curry dish because it was cold and damp outside and I realized I still have some Cauliflower, Green Beans, Carrots...you know the odds and ends. I decided to substitute some 2% milk for the Coconut Milk and wouldn't you know it? The pot of curry was sensational. Pardon the overconfidence, but yes, it tasted purty darn good! I sure will not be tempted to buy another can of Coconut Milk next time I want to cook curry! That is how good this is!
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cauliflower, cut up into large florets and blanched
1 carrot, diced
1/2 cup green beans, if they are too long just half them
1 large shallot, diced up
1/2 onion diced
1 clove garlic, minced
5 candlenuts
1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
3 tablespoons curry powder ( my niece Stacey sent me this very aromatic nyonya curry powder from Malacca.)
2 tablespoons chili pepper flakes ( I used the Korean chili pepper flakes used for making Kimchi)
3 curry leaves
1/2 -3/4 cup 2% milk ( we are talking healthy here but if you prefer whole milk instead, that is up to you)
vegetable oil
salt to taste
Method:
Blend the diced shallots, diced onions and candlenuts in a blender until it becomes a paste.
Meanwhile, heat up a heavy stock pot with some vegetable oil and pour the above mix in when the oil is heated. Saute until fragrant and the onions and shallots appear limp and transparetn which won't take too long.
Add in the minced garlic,carrots and diced jalapeno peppers. Give it a good stir for a minute.
Add in the chili flakes. Watch the pot carefully and you may need to add a little bit of oil so that it won't cake up. It will turn a brown paste, add in the curry powder. The consistency has to be like that of a pesto.
Place the chicken in and saute well with the paste, until you don't see any transparent meat. Add in the curry leaves. Make sure that there is enough oil coating the meat and the heat temperature is right, so that your stock pot will not end up with a burnt bottom. Stir constantly.
Add in the 2% milk. Depending on how much liquid you like in your curry, you can always adjust the amount of milk to your liking. If unsure, just add in 1/2 cup first and then more if need be.
You will get a deep rich, red curry and oh, the aroma!
Since the Cauliflower is already blanched, you don't need to add that into the pot until the curry is almost ready. If you prefer your green beans to be slightly crunchy, add that in lastly a few minutes before you shut off the heat. Salt to taste.
It feels good to be eating this wonderful curry without having to worry about what the Coconut milk will do to my cholesterol level, not to mention my waistline!
3 comments:
If you want that coconut flavor, you can always get coconut extract or essence.
thats what i'm heating up in the microwave tonight! YUM!
We have Carnation evaporated milk which is coconut flavoured; almost as good as the real thing but my mum said it is too 'fragrant'.
I cook a milk/coconut free chicken curry. Pre-fry chicken pieces. Pound a palm full of shallots and fry it in oil, then add curry paste. Add cut pieces of about 6 tomatoes. Put in the chicken and curry leaves. Add salt and tomato sauce to taste. Add some water. Cook till chicken is tender and the tomato pieces are all disintegrated. This is not a 'soupy' curry nor is it dry. It's kinda pasty, ie, with thick gravy. I like it. Sometimes if I don't want to use too much meat, I add pre-fried potato cubes.
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