Chicken Cashew Curry

People actually requested this recipe when I left Australia. I felt like such a big girl! This was my “comfort food” meal when I was off dairy, and I’d make it at least once a week (I need a lot of comfort).

I started making this when I was trying to figure out how to use coconut oil. If you read any of the hippy health blogs, you will hear people talking about coconut oil like it’s a Magical Elixir of Life. I think it’s probably a good thing to include in one’s diet (better than most other oils), and certainly it’s been consumed by healthy people groups for a long time. So I use it quite a bit.

I’m okay with the taste of coconut (I just hate the texture of shredded coconut…AGHPHHT), but I just couldn’t bring myself to use coconut oil in place of oil or butter in just any dish. The safest way to start seemed to be to do a curry.

Chicken Cashew Curry

You will need:

• Coconut oil
  
• Coconut milk
• Curry paste (check ingredients and make sure you know what everything is)
• Vegetables (whatever is seasonal and sounds good, but if you need suggestions: bell pepper, snap peas, cabbage, carrots, broccoli, eggplant, zucchini, etc.)
• Chicken
• Cashews
• Rice (optional)

If you’re including rice I usually start that in a large deep sauce pan.* That way I can just pile everything on top once the rice is cooked (I am a very lazy cook and I hate doing dishes). Your next step or first step is to dump a boatload of coconut oil into your pan** and about a third of the amount of curry paste you intend to use. I used to use raw chicken, and I’d add it at this point. If your chicken is cooked,*** add the vegetables first. Stir, stir, stir. If your chicken was raw, add veggies when it’s cooked.

Check your email. When the veggies are done to your liking, add the rest of the curry paste and the coconut milk. Stir, stir, stir. Turn off the pan; it’s best to let everything sit for a bit so that the flavors blend or whatever (check Facebook; post smug status that you’ve just made a delicious curry dish). Just before serving, top with cashews.

*When I’m making rice, I use homemade chicken stock instead of water.

**I’ve been reading Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes, and it’s convinced me to be a lot more liberal with my fat. The book is rather dense, but if you want a snapshot, I think his 2002 article What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie gives you the gist of it. Or just take my word for it and mindlessly dump coconut oil into your friggin’ pan.

***This is a great way to use up all of the cooked chicken you end up with when you’re making stock all of the time.