Chicken and Coconut Milk Curry

This chicken and coconut milk curry comes together pretty fast - perfect for a weeknight dinner. I've been messing with this recipe for a little while now, and I finally like it enough to post it!

The coconut milk makes the sauce super creamy, and the spices turn it a really gorgeous color. :D

You can make this chicken curry as mild or spicy as you want, too - it works really well both ways!

Step 1: Ingredients + Prep

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• 14.5 oz can full fat coconut milk
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 inch ginger, grated
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin, ground
• 1/2 tsp cumin, whole
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• a few teaspoons of chili garlic sauce (or to taste!)
• 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil
• pinch of brown sugar
• juice of half a lime

The first thing you should do is dice the onion finely, mince the garlic and grate the ginger. You'll also want to measure out your spices to save time later :D

This might seem like quite a few ingredients, but many of them are great to have on hand all the time - I normally only have to buy the chicken breasts, stock and lime if I want to make this curry.

You'll also want a nice heavy bottomed pot to cook this in - I'm using this Le Creuset dutch oven.

Step 2: Cook Out the Veg and Spices

Heat 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil over medium low heat. Throw in onions and cook, stirring often until slightly translucent. Then add in the garlic and ginger and cook for about a minute. You don't want any color on these veggies as it will change the flavor quite a bit.

Add in the dry spices and tomato paste and continue to cook. If the mix gets dry and begins to brown a bit, add a little of the chicken stock so you can scrape the bottom of the pan clean and keep cooking for a few more minutes.

You want to cook the spices out really well because otherwise they'll taste raw. I always cook this for 3-5 minutes - it normally looks like a bit of a paste towards the end, as shown above.

Step 3: Making the Sauce

Once the spices and veg have cooked, add in the coconut milk and a couple cups of chicken stock. Turn the heat up so it comes to a boil and then lower to about medium heat and cook for 10-15 minutes. Just until it starts to thicken! I normally do 10 minutes, but if you like a really thick sauce, take it longer.

While it's reducing, add in a pinch of salt and some chili garlic sauce. Taste and see if you like it - add in extra of whatever spices you like, but keep the lime out - we'll add it in at the very end!

Step 4: Cook the Chicken

Now add in the chicken. Turn the heat down to a simmer and let it go for about 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Step 5: Final Seasonings

At this point, you'll probably want to add a little more salt and maybe more chili garlic sauce. I like it to be pretty spicy!

Add the juice of 1/4 lime to start and a pinch of sugar. Taste and add more sugar and lime as necessary - I normally add the whole half a lime and around 1/2-1 tablespoon of brown sugar.

Turn off the heat and serve with naan or rice. I always serve this over cumin rice!