Ingrediants
2 Mangos, pealed and diced
2 Cups of diced chicken, thighs or breasts
1 Large onion, diced
1 Large bell pepper (green or red), diced
1 13.5 oz. can of coconut milk
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 Tablespoons white or apple cider vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon of cumin
1/4 Teaspoon of black pepper
1/4 Teaspoon of salt
3 Tablespoons of curry powder
This all began walking through the local international market and finding a display of perfect mangos. Standing there, I was hit with how long it had been since I had made a mango dish. Mango curry now stuck in my mind and happily there were also nice looking onions and bell peppers an aisle over.
Standing at my counter, the prep work on this dish is actually fairly simple. Now, I have to admit, the chicken breasts had already been steamed so were already cooked and very easy to dice up. A little dicing and mincing later everything was prepped. Time to hit the mangoes. I use a standard cheapie vegetable peeler to peel the mangos and insert a fork along the side of the pit/seed for stabilization while I slice off the fruit.
Once everything is prepped, there are a number of decisions to make. First is how obvious do you want the onions. Since this is a sweet curry, I like to serve this as an intro dish to curries and depending on my dinner guests, I may want the onions more hidden so I will start this party with a tablespoon of vegetable oil and a 1/4 cup of water tossed in to start cooking the onions over a medium heat until they are clear. If you are not trying to be sneaky don’t worry about it and skip giving the onions a head start.
The mango, chicken, bell pepper, garlic, and ginger all get added to the onions and cooked for a couple of minutes until everything is up to pan temperature. Once the peppers reach the halfway point to being fully cooked, I add the coconut milk. Stir this in until everything is thoroughly coated. Keep stirring slowly until the pot gets back up to medium heat.
Now it is time to get the spices in. I start with the vinegar, then I slowly stir in the cumin, black pepper, and salt. Once I have this round completely integrated, time for the main event. I stir in the curry powder one tablespoon at a time. Don’t just dump it in, sprinkle the power over the dish while stirring it in.
This is your next big decision, how intense do you want the curry flavor? It is a good idea to sneak a taste test between adding the curry powder. One tablespoon and you are getting very lightly flavored sweet dish. Two tablespoons and the curry flavor takes the lead and the color turns that rich turmeric yellow (I prefer yellow curry powder). At three tablespoons, you are getting an intense curry flavor and aroma. If your taste test tells you to go for a little more, take baby steps and by all means go for it.
I let my curry simmer for a another 10 – 15 minutes on a low heat while I get my rice together. Your rice is your last big choice because there are a lot of different types of rice and rice flavors to choose from. My personal choices are either coconut rice or turmeric rice. If you feel like splurging a bit, you can’t go wrong with saffron rice. Curry over a rice is simply a classic.
A last word, never hurry a dinner featuring curry. Sit down, take your time, and enjoy every bite.
The Cooking Today Show 