Coconut Curried Chicken Stew (Disneyworld Resort, from Boma)

This week I felt like I had to do something drastically different. I think it is because I am not working and I have time to get wild in the kitchen!  Last week I had great success with my Curried Chicken and Peach salad, so I decided to make something curry-related.  Nothing breaks the monotony in your kitchen like African Curry!

As I perused my Disney cookbook (Chef Mickey-Treasures from the Vault and Delicious New Favorites), I stopped on the first page of the soup section and said “aha!” There it was: Coconut Curried Chicken Stew.  It is served at a restaurant called “Boma” at the Walt Disney World Animal Kingdom Lodge.

I have to admit, I had no idea how healthy (or not) this dish would be (preparing it exactly as the book specified).  Turns out that this is on the healthy side, with 1 cup being 6pp (and a half cup being 3pp). Wow!  It tastes really fresh and exotic without being too complicated to make! Love<3

<—The curry during step 5

Ingredients

1 Whole Chicken, cut into 8 pieces (I used 1.0 kg of chicken breast)

course salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2.5 tablespoons of curry powder, divided

3 tablespoons of canola oil

6 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup honey

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

1 cup canned tomatoes, drained of juice and diced

1 cup onions, diced chunky

1 cup red bell peppers, coursely diced

1/2 jalepeño, seeded and minced finely

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions:

1. Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of curry

2. sear the chicken in canola oil in a 4-quart saucepan (over medium heat until brown)

3. Remove chicken and wipe out the sauce (carefully!!!!)

4. Return pan to heat, melt the butter in the same pan; stir in the flour just until it turns beige (this happens quickly)

5. Add chicken broth, honey, remaining curry powder, cayenne powder and tomatoes. Simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes. Make sure you stir every five minutes. This is important so that your roux breaks up well. This is an opportune time to chop your veggies by the way.

6. Add the onions, bell peppers, potatoes, jalapeno, coconut milk and seared chicken to the stock.

7. Cook over moderate heat until the chicken is cooked through, 25-30 minutes. I covered the pan with foil so that the potatoes would cook nicely.

8. Garnish with fresh cilantro (I have never done this, I am too lazy to disinfect my cilantro). I recommend serving with a small side of rice.

Enjoy!

Some food for thought:

My curry looked really lumpy during steps 4-7, just until the end. Something about the juices from the veggies and chicken help the entire thing smooth out. I don’t know if this is normal for curry, but it looks and tastes AMAZING. Don’t worry. The Disney Magic helps the dish become outstanding.