Who doesn't love to come home to dinner all ready to go?
Sadly, it's rare for the Chief-Cook-and-Bottle-Washer to have that happen.
That is, unless the crock pot is employed. And, employ it, I do.
Not often enough, however.
There are a few reasons for that.
One of those being that crock pot meals tend to be a little on the blah side.
At least, the ones I've put to the test over the years have been.
This recipe is anything but blah. Far from it, actually.
It's been my *go to* for the slow cooker in recent days.
I've shared it over the last few months with two lovely
ladies who raved about it's yumminess.
One even told me she had been craving it. Surely a compliment!
I'd say that is a slow cooker success story, wouldn't you?
There is quite a bit of *kick* to this meal.
If you are a little shy about spicy hot things, cut back on the cayenne pepper.
On the other hand, if spicy is your thing, then, go ahead and double up on the cayenne.
We find that it's nicely spicy with the amount I suggest here.
See all those lovely spices just waiting to be whisked together?
Crock Pot Chicken Curry ~
Mennonite Girls Can Cook featured the recipe that propelled
me forward to land on the specifics below.
Here's what you will need:
4 medium sized yellow flesh potatoes, with skin on, cut into chunks
1 large yam (dark orange sweet potato), peeled and diced
2 medium yellow cooking onions, finely diced
3 large bell peppers, diced (I like to use red or yellow, not green)
3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
2 tins (6 oz size) tomato paste
2 tins (15 oz size) full fat coconut milk
6 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp
red curry powder
2 Tbsp
garam masala
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Here's what you do:
Prepare and layer the potatoes, yam, onions, and peppers
into large (6 Quart size) slow cooker.
Place the diced raw chicken over top of the veggie layer.
Whisk together the tomato paste, coconut milk, minced garlic,
and spices to form the sauce. Pour over the veggies and chicken.
Separate the layers with a spatula to allow some of the sauce to be
incorporated throughout the dish. Put the lid on and leave it while it cooks.
Don't lift the lid until you are ready to serve dinner!
Cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours.
My slow cooker is extremely hot, so, six hours is enough.
You should see the sauce bubbling at the edges and all
the veggies should be tender when it's fully cooked.
Serve over a bed of rice and
sprinkle with shredded coconut and raisins.
I like to set a covered casserole dish in the oven on the
delay cooking setting to have rice ready at the same time
as the curried chicken. Then, there's nothing to do but serve it all up!
Here's what you do to make oven-baked rice:
Measure out rice (1 cup per three people)
and water (double the amount of rice) into a covered casserole dish.
Be sure you have enough room for the rice to expand by about double.
Stir together, cover the dish, and place in the oven on the centre rack.
Set the delay bake cycle to come on an hour and fifteen minutes
prior to the time you plan on serving dinner.
Set the heat to 350 degrees F and the baking time for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
(I usually make a double or triple batch of rice this way. If you are only cooking
one cup of rice, I'd reduce the cooking time by about 15 minutes.)
When you come through the door, dinner will be ready!
This Chicken Curry is enough to feed approximately 8 to 10 very hungry people.
Leftovers are even better due to the flavours having had a change to mingle.
We like shredded coconut and raisins on our individual servings.
What about you? Do you have a favourite slow cooker meal to share?
I'd love to hear how you employ the crock pot on your crazy-busy days.
Happy Tuesday!
With Love, Camille
