Chicken Curry

My mother’s recipe for Chicken Curry is the Filipino version. It may have similar robust, earthy and savory flavors like that of the Indian curry, but the Filipino recipe downplays the strong spicy original taste, and even has hints of sweetness.

I’m giving you a sneak peek into the recipes I shared in my memoir Every Ounce of Courage. My book is a history and culinary memoir about the heroism of one Filipina, my late mother Lulu Reyes Besa. She was a whiz in the kitchen and I described many food stories  like this one in my memoir, some going back to my grandmother Nena Jugo Reyes.

I have the best memories of my late mother Lulu cooking Chicken Curry, not just because it was a family favorite dish, but because she wanted to make use of the coconuts we had growing in our backyard. To serve alongside the curry, mom also used to make jars of sweet, tangy mango chutney with the ripened mangoes from our farm. The thick, creamy curry sauce coated the tender chicken cuts, potatoes, carrots and green peas, as the earthy, savory aromas from the simmering stew floated around the kitchen. While the chicken was cooking, mom would pan fry the sides to go with the chicken curry – onion rings, eggplant slices, raisins, and she  coarsely chopped up roasted peanuts. It was all then elegantly plated for the dinner table, with the chicken curry at the center, and small bowls with the sides surrounding it. Steamed rice always accompanied all these.

Ingredients needed :

This chicken curry recipe uses some basic ingredients which may already be in your pantry or refrigerator. My son, Constante has cooked this recipe many times and even added his own recipe version.

For this recipe, you need about two pounds of chicken cuts. At my son’s suggestion, I used boneless chicken to hasten the cooking time.

Have some potatoes and carrots ready, peeled and sliced. Also needed are the green beans, edges trimmed, and the frozen green peas.

I used a yellow curry powder for this – one with a mild flavor, but it got robust and tasted more vivid as the cooking continued, and even days after the dish was made. I was sent a large box of food mixes by Seafood City recently, and one of the envelope mixes was the Pamana Curry Powder which blended splendidly into the stew.

Other essentials are coconut milk (canned), and soup stock, and the usual vegetable oil, garlic, onions and seasonings.

How to cook Chicken Curry, Filipino-style:

Cooking this chicken curry recipe is basically simmering a stew. I started with a sauté of the garlic and onions. Then I added the chicken cuts to braise a few minutes in the hot oil. Once the chicken was lightly-brown, I poured the liquids, and added the vegetables and seasonings. It is wise to keep the heat at a slow simmer or a medium-low. You don’t want the coconut milk to curdle if the temperature is too high. You’ll know the entrée is cooked once the chicken is cooked completely, and fork-tender.

Mom’s Chicken Curry recipe has now evolved to Constante’s recipe at our home. Even better, my son’s recipe has found its place in my memoir Every Ounce of Courage. I hope you enjoy this family favorite as much as we do, too.

Print Recipe

Chicken Curry

This is Chicken Curry, Filipino-style, cooked the way my mother Lulu Reyes Besa used to. This recipe consists of boneless chicken cuts, potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, simmered in coconut milk, and stock. The stew is flavored with yellow curry powder and seasonings and cooked in moderate, slow heat till the chicken is tender and the sauce is robust, earthy-flavored and savory. Serve with accompaniments of mango chutney, pan-fried eggplants, onion rings, raisins, and chopped roasted peanuts. This is a recipe by Constante G. Quirino, reprinted from the culinary and history memoir Every Ounce of Courage by Elizabeth Ann Quirino.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian, Filipino

Keyword: Chicken Curry Filipino-style

Servings: 4 people

Calories: 4kcal

Author: Elizabeth Ann Quirino

Equipment

• Large saucepan – 12 to 14-inches diameter

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 whole large white or yellow onion, sliced
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic, about 3 cloves
• 2 pounds boneless chicken thighs, about 6 to 7 pieces; slice into serving pieces, about 4-inches each
• 2 cans ( 13.4 ounces each) coconut milk
• 3/4 cup chicken broth; or water
• 2 Tablespoons yellow curry powder; like the Pamana Powdered Curry or any equivalent
• 2 large potatoes, peeled, quartered
• 1 whole medium-sized carrot, peeled, sliced
• 1 cup green beans, edges trimmed, sliced into 2-inch pieces
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 1/2 piece red bell pepper, seeded, sliced

Sides or Accompaniments:

• steamed jasmine rice or naan
• deep-fried onion rings from 1 large onion
• deep-fried eggplant slices from 2 Asian eggplants
• a cup of pan-fried raisins
• a cup of chopped roasted peanuts
• Mom's Mango Chutney, recipe in the food memoir Every Ounce of Courage

Instructions

• Heat the vegetable oil in the large saucepan over medium heat.

  Saute the onions and garlic until soft in 1 to 2 minutes.

  Add the chicken pieces and sear for 5 minutes, till slightly browned. Turn the pieces over for even browning.
• Pour the coconut milk and broth (or water).

  Stir in the curry powder and blend into the liquid till there are no lumps and mixture is smooth.
• If coconut milk starts to boil, lower the heat so the coconut does not curdle.
• Add the potatoes, carrots, green beans and green peas. Cover and continue cooking till the chicken and vegetables are cooked and tender.

  Stir every so often, so that the ingredients do not stick to the bottom of the skillet, as coconut milk tends to do so.
• Cover and cook for about 35 minutes. Pierce the meat with a fork to check for tenderness and if completely cooked.

  Season with salt and pepper.
• Transfer the chicken curry to a serving bowl and garnish with red bell pepper slices.

  Serve the curry with steamed jasmine rice or naan, and side dishes of fried onion rings, eggplant slices, raisins, peanuts, and a generous helping of mango chutney.

  To store : Keep leftovers refrigerated in a covered container. It will last up to 4 to 5 days refrigerated. In the freezer, this can keep up to one month.

Cook's comments:

• The yellow curry powder I used was the Pamana brand, a gift, along with a box of food mixes sent by Seafood City to me. This is not an ad. But I highly recommend the product for this recipe and other dishes that use curry powder. The flavor blends well with Filipino recipes.

  For the chicken cuts, you can use other chicken cutlets, like breast, for this recipe. I used boneless thighs when I cooked this one, because it was what I had available in my freezer.

Nutrition

Serving: 100grams | Calories: 4kcal | Carbohydrates: 0.2g | Protein: 0.3g | Fat: 0.2g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 173mg | Potassium: 9mg | Fiber: 0.01g | Sugar: 0.2g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 2mg | Iron: 0.1mg

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