Dourmet Dishes
culture  

Dourmet Dishes

By Noelle

I’m trying to get consistent with meal prep this term. Busy weeknights usually find me floundering at the thought of actually cooking and resorting to the straightforward but actually somewhat time-consuming fried-egg-and-rice. Instead, I want to avoid the dilemma altogether and cook a large quantity of real food once a week. Today, the first day of winter term, I kicked off this resolution today by making seven servings of chicken curry.

This curry is made from scratch (save the Golden Curry for another day), and requires only eight ingredients, two of which are oil and salt. It took me thirty-five minutes from ingredients-on-the-counter to fragrant-curry-steaming-on-the-stove. While this is a significant chunk of time, for seven servings, it divides into only five minutes per meal, which is pretty good. If you like to think in terms of money, seven meals at your friendly neighborhood Chipotle would cost about 7 x $8 = $56, whereas the ingredients for this curry cost no more than $10. That’s $46 saved in one week!

Coconutty* Chicken Curry

Yes, coconutty. More so than just coconut chicken curry, this curry boasts an intense offering of delicate coconut flavor.* Makes 7 cups of curry. **Ingredientsolive oil2 cloves of garlic1/2 an onion3 chicken thighssalt1 Tbsp. curry powder3 cups frozen vegetable mix (carrots, corn, peas, green beans)can of coconut cream (can substitute coconut milk)

Optional Ingredients1 tsp. sugar1 tsp. minced ginger1 Tbsp. turmeric1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Equipmentcutting board (preferably large)chef’s knifelarge nonstick saucepan or wokcan openerwooden turner/spoon for stirringladle for serving MethodMince the garlic and start to sautee it in some oil in the pan on medium-high. While this is heating up, dice (half of) the onion and add to the pan. Cook until the onion begins to turn translucent, stirring occasionally. While the onions and garlic are cooking, slice the chicken against the grain. Add the chicken and salt liberally.

Cooking the chicken dry - before adding the coconut cream and vegetables - allows it to brown via the Malliard reaction, developing a caramelized crust. To amplify the Malliard reaction, you can add in the sugar here. Once the chicken has browned, add the coconut cream and curry powder, and if desired, ginger, turmeric, and cayenne for an extra kick. Mix thoroughly and bring to a boil. Add the veggies and return to a boil, then simmer until they’ve cooked. Add salt to taste.

Serve with rice. I packed half of mine up with rice in individual containers to take to campus for lunch and stored the rest in one large container to eat for dinner.

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