Coconut Curry Chicken With Rice

I love curry.  Red cury, green curry, coconut curry, all curry.  I am also in college, which by default means I have very little money and a small grocery budget.  The ingredients that go into a homemade curry (namely fresh produce and herbs) can get pricey.  Given my limited income, I cannot blow a whole month’s worth of grocery money on all the lovely fresh ingredients that go into a more complex curry.  I have to save some money for the important things like bread, milk, eggs, and easymac.  So this is a simplified, and therefore much cheaper, version of coconut curry that utilizes the herbs and spices everyone should keep in their cupboards.  The simplicity also keeps the cooking time down which is also bonus when functioning on a collegiate time budget, a.k.a forever and always lacking time. Just because its simpler, however, does not mean it lacks in flavor or deliciousness.  I personally thought it was quite flavorful and pretty delish. Enjoy!

This is the finished product.  Apologies for the photo quality. I wish I could take fancy food pictures with a nice camera, lovely backgrounds, colorful dish ware, and pretty garnishes.   However, all I've got is my cell phone, my apartment countertop,  and the cheapest ceramic dishes found at Target.  I think I'll buy pretty dishes when I grow up and get a real job, maybe even take a food photography class.  But for now, I'm pretty content with what I have.     

Simple (Cheap) Coconut Curry Chicken with Rice

Makes about 2 servings

Ingredients:

5 Tbs butter (divided)*

1 cup yellow onion (diced)

1 Tbs garlic (minced)

½ tsp garlic salt

1 cup chicken broth*

1 ³/₄ tsp coconut extract

¼ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp basil

1 ¼ tsp curry powder

½ tsp coriander

¼ cup + 2 tsp whole milk*

1 chicken breast (cut into bite-size 1-2 inch pieces)

½ cup rice

Salt or garlic salt to taste

Directions:

Melt 3 Tablespoons of the butter in a medium size pot or saucepan. Add ½ tsp garlic salt.  Sautee the chopped onion and minced garlic in the butter on medium high heat until the onions begin to get soft (about 4 or 5 minutes).  Stir coconut extract, nutmeg, basil, curry powder and coriander into the cup of chicken broth*.  Add the chicken broth to the pan or pot and bring to a boil.  Once it reaches a boil, quickly stir in the rice, chicken, and milk.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover.  Simmer for 17-20 minutes.  (I cooked mine for 20 minutes and the rice was softer.  Usually I demand al dente but for this type of dish I like it softer. If you prefer rice al dente always, simmer for less time).  Once the rice is cooked, uncover the pan/pot, stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, salt or garlic salt to taste, and the dish is complete.  I used about ¼ to ½ tsp of garlic salt, but everyone has different salt threshold and I tend to like things on the saltier side, so salt how you like. 

Notes:

*You can cut down on the butter to cut calories if you prefer.  I guarantee you it will not taste nearly as good, but it will still taste good.  Just remember, everything is better with butter.

*You can use your own homemade chicken broth or the basic chicken broth you get from a can at the grocery store.  I used Swanson’s low-sodium chicken broth and it was cheap ($1.00) and delicious.

*I used whole milk because I had some leftover in the fridge that was about to expire.  It gave the dish a nice creamy texture.  However, if you don’t happen to have whole milk on hand, I’m positive skim or 1% would work just fine.  The texture would just be a little less creamy.  You could even use a combination of milk and half and half or cream if you have either of those on hand