Lana’s Curry Chicken…My Way

My friend, Lana Irons (you can visit her page at www.ByeByeOffice.com) posted this recipe last year. She stated that it was “kid friendly.” Yeah, right. Maybe friendly for your kid, but not mine! I have one good eater, one not so. Desperate for a new recipe one Friday, I decided to try this (I seldom try a recipe that doesn’t come with a picture but I did anyway). It was a hit for ¾ of our family. Eventually, Eli came aboard and now this is one of our family’s favorite meals. I’ve made adjustments from her recipe to come up with how we like it. You can read my ending note to see the varying tastes of my family. And the next time I make this, I’ll post a picture or two.

Enjoy!

Lana’s Curry Chicken…My Way

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
 (I slice them into @ 2” strips)

1 small to medium onion, sliced

2 gloves garlic

olive oil

1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon chicken flavoring (this is found near the bouillon cubes; it’s in a jar and you spoon it into your dishes. I had never used this before until I read it in Lana’s recipe and now I use nothing else. It’s worth it.]

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1-3 tablespoons yellow curry (adjust to your liking)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 cup sour cream (I always use light)

1/4-1/2 C. milk (to thin out if too thick; I always use skim)

½ fresh red pepper (sliced; more if you like)

½ fresh green pepper (sliced; more if you like)

1 small package sliced fresh mushrooms (although my husband hates these, these are the best part of the entire meal)

Cabbage (as much as you like, even though the kids don’t like this part; I only use this occasionally but Regi loves it)

Directions:

Early in the day, I cut the chicken up and put it in a medium bowl with the olive oil, paprika, salt, pepper and @ 1 tablespoon of curry. I let it marinate for a while until I’m ready to start dinner.

• In a dutch oven or deep skillet, brown onions in olive oil until soft (about 5 minutes).
• Add garlic and brown sugar.
• Add the chicken to skillet and cook over medium heat in order to brown the chicken.
• Add the bouillon paste and water. Let it simmer for a while (about 20 minutes).
• At this point, add more water and bouillon paste until it’s the consistency you like. Add the rest of the curry, adjusting to your liking. Then add the mushrooms.
• Next add the sour cream. If you need to thin it out, I add milk.
• Add peppers and cabbage (or whichever you like) toward the end because it doesn’t take long for them to cook. Simmer, covered, for approximately 25 minutes.

If the sauce gets too thin, I add a little cornstarch. Don’t forget to taste it along the way. If you like it a bit sweeter, add another teaspoon of brown sugar. I use about two tablespoons of the curry all together. Sophie tends to like it spicy and always tells me I need to add more.

How I serve it: my family likes to serve this over good old white rice. I know it’s not really good for us, but I think it tastes good.

For Regi, I make sure no mushrooms get onto his plate. He likes everything else.

For Eli, I only put chicken on his plate without much of the sauce. I can barely get this child to even taste a vegetable.

Sophie gets all the mushrooms that neither Regi nor Eli want, but won’t eat let me put the cabbage or peppers on her plate. She loves the chicken and lots of sauce. Little known fact about her: She usually won’t let any food touch each other and she will only one food group at a time. Thought you’d like to know that.

Me…I like it all. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have put it in the pot to begin with!