slow cooker chicken curry with coconut milk

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Chicken

The chicken (Gallus domesticus) is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl  that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult male bird, and a younger male may be called a cockerel. A male that has been castrated is a capon. An adult female bird is called a hen and a sexually immature female is called a pullet.

Originally raised for cockfighting or for special ceremonies, chickens were not kept for food until the Hellenistic period (4th–2nd centuries BC).  Humans now keep chickens primarily as a source of food (consuming both their meat and eggs) and as pets.

Chickens are one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, with a total population of 23.7 billion as of 2018, up from more than 19 billion in 2011.^[5] There are more chickens in the world than any other bird. There are numerous cultural references to chickens – in myth, folklore and religion, and in language and literature.

SLOW COOKER CHICKEN CURRY WITH COCONUT MILK

Chicken Coconut Curry is made with Boneless chicken breast sauteed in onion, ginger garlic paste, tomato, spices, and slow-cooked. Adding coconut milk makes the gravy silky smooth and rich.  Slow cooking the chicken ensures the Chicken pieces remain Juicy and tender.

Chicken Curry appears very often on our menu. This Chicken Curry is one of my go-to recipes.  It is not very spicy. The gravy is creamy and rich with a subtle flavour from coconut milk.

CAN I USE COCONUT CREAM INSTEAD OF MILK?

You cooooould, but I wouldn’t. Personally I think this is PLENTY creamy with the coconut milk and I didn’t want to add to the calorie count! However, if you’d like to use coconut cream, add a couple tablespoons after the cook time and then maybe add some water or broth until you’ve reached your desired consistency. If you give this a try, let me know!

But let’s back it up a minute and let’s address about the elephant in the room.

The dreaded fish sauce.

Here’s the deal: don’t skip it! Honestly… it. is. stiiiiinky. I use it in my Roasted Red Chili Tilapia and Thai Peanut Noodles, too. Every time I use fish sauce, I wonder if it’s going to kill the dish. I mean, how can something SO stinky, make food taste SO delicious?

I don’t know, but it works.

Fish sauce is so savory and really adds depth to the dish.

Making Curry Dishes

This week we celebrated my 49th birthday. What? I don’t really understand that number, but it’s here to stay and it’s only gonna’ get bigger…hahaha. And with every celebration, you know there has be food. I’ve said this many times, we don’t eat or have take out often. Generally, most of our meals are always cooked at home. But with it being my birthday, a dinner out was in order.

And keeping with my love for curry and Indian inspired dishes, I’m bringing you this Slow Cooker Curry Chicken with Coconut Milk. Curry made easy! Making a great curry can be very labour intensive and time consuming. But in the slow cooker, it’s super easy. Maybe not quick, but there’s so little hands on time. You literally just toss everything in the slow cooker and push start.

Does it give the same rich flavour as a labour intensive curry Honestly, no it doesn’t. But it was really tasty and the chicken was super tender. My family loved it and I’ve made it several times now. This is a dish for when you don’t have the time for hands on cooking and you can prep it early and get on with your day. More labour intensive curries like my Chicken Tikka Masala and Indian Butter Chicken are huge hits but require much more prep and hands on time.

SECRETS TO A GOOD CURRY

It’s easy to make a good curry. If you’re looking for a tasty dish always be sure to utilize the following ingredients:

• Full-fat Thai style coconut milk
• Chicken stock
• Using fresh spices in your pantry. If the spices in your pantry are more than a few years old then I would suggest replacing.
• Good quality curry powder
• Peas (or another diced vegetable)
• Cilantro to boost the flavor

While I prefer lean chicken breasts you can use Chicken thighs or any type of dark meat. The darker meats will boost the flavor.

YELLOW CURRY SEASONING

While you can technically buy the yellow curry paste at your local grocery store, I much prefer to blend up my own curry spices at home.

To make a curry seasoning mix you will need:

• Curry Powder – These come in mild, medium, and hot when bought in the bulk section at grocery stores.  Mild or medium is recommended for this recipe.
  • Most commercial brands, such as McCormick, are a mild heat.
• Turmeric Powder – Watch out for this one as it definitely stains white countertops!
• Coriander – Please don’t leave this one out.  It gives the dish a wonderful nuttiness.
• Sugar – Just a touch of white sugar is used to sweeten the sauce.  Feel free to leave it out if you are on a Whole30 or Paleo diet.
• Salt and Pepper – Adjust these according to your taste preferences.

PREPARING THE POTATOES

An important step when making this Crock-pot curry is how big or small you cut your potatoes.

If you like super soft sweet potatoes, you’ll want to cut the potatoes close to 1/2-inch cubes.

However, if you prefer your potatoes on the firmer side, 1-inch cubes will cook completely while still holding their shape.

No matter what size, you’ll definitely want to peel the sweet potatoes before adding them to the slow cooker.

If not, the peel will start to separate from the potato while cooking.

How to Make Coconut Curry Chicken in the Slow Cooker

When we say this coconut curry chicken is easy, we mean easy! Here are the few steps that it takes to make the slow cooker coconut curry chicken and then a few steps on how to prepare some veggies to serve with it.

1. Mix the sauce: add the coconut milk, curry paste, garlic, garlic powder, chili powder, and salt to the slow cooker and mix everything together until the sauce is smooth.
2. Add the chicken: Once the sauce is combined add the chicken breasts to the slow cooker and make sure the chicken is submerged in the sauce.
3. Cook everything together: Cook everything together on high for 2-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.
4. Prep the veggies: While the chicken is cooking sauté the onion and peppers together in coconut oil for 5 minutes.
5. Shred the chicken: When the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF, remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred the chicken with two forks.
6. Mix everything together: Add the shredded chicken and pepper mixture back into the slow cooker and mix everything together until the chicken and peppers are coated in coconut curry sauce

MY TIPS FOR MAKING THIS RECIPE

• DO NOT use the lite coconut milk. Just don’t. I bought the lite coconut milk by accident one time and decided to use it anyways. Worst decision ever. The lite coconut milk is basically just watered down full-fat coconut milk so it provided zero creamy coconut flavor.
• Use full salt, regular chicken broth. You NEED the extra salt from the chicken broth. The slow cooker tends to mute spices. If you do use reduced-sodium chicken broth then be sure to taste it and add additional salt if necessary after the cook time.
• Serve over a long-grain rice. I prefer Jasmine rice or Basmati rice. I cook mine on the stove top according to the directions on the bag, or a rice cooker, and even the instant pot.
• I know this curry is not “authentic” rather it’s a very Americanized, easier home cook version. I get it. My blog is not about authentic dishes rather it’s about recipes that anyone can make that their family will love .
• I highly recommend using the Yukon gold potatoes. They are a sweeter, creamier, more flavorful potato. A good substitute is red potato if you must.

Can you freeze coconut curry chicken?

To freeze coconut curry chicken, let it cool completely. Then, transfer it into a freezer-safe gallon-size bag and remove as much air as possible. Seal and freeze for up to 3 months.

Instant Pot Instructions for Coconut Chicken Curry

1. Peel and chop veggies and chicken. Chop onion, carrots and chicken into small uniform pieces. Mince garlic, and chop bell peppers into cubes or strips. Turn your Instant Pot to saute mode and add a couple of teaspoons of oil. Add your veggies to the pot and saute for a few minutes until the veggies begin to soften.
2. Add the chicken, stir to combine and saute for 2 more minutes.
3. Make the sauce. In a medium bowl, whisk together tomato paste, coconut milk, salt, pepper, curry powder, and garam masala. Pour sauce over chicken and veggies, place the lid on your Instant Pot.
4. Cook. Set to manual, high pressure for 4 minutes. Once the Instant Pot has completed the 4 minutes, let it natural pressure release for 10 minutes. Let remaining pressure out and carefully open the lid.
5. Give the curry a stir, and then serve or warm rice.

Thank you for staying with this post “slow cooker chicken curry with coconut milk” until the end.

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