Foodie Fridays: Easy Coconut Milk Curry Chicken

I have been looking for a good curry recipe for decades.  I love Indian food with all of its wonderful spice blends, but I have never been able to prepare a dish that I found as satisfying as those I have eaten in Indian restaurants -- until now!  The best part is that Easy Coconut Milk Curry Chicken is one of the simplest curry recipes I have ever tried, easy to make and using ingredients that are not hard to find.  I think the secret is the coconut milk.  For some reason I have never tried making a curry with this ingredient before, even though such recipes are quite abundant.  Anyway, now that I know how to make a basic sauce that I find pleasing, I will be experimenting with other ingredient combinations, adding more vegetables and using shrimp or even fish instead of chicken -- the possibilities are now endless!  I made a few changes to the original recipe, using cooked chicken instead of uncooked, boiling small waxy potatoes before adding them instead of cooking them in the curry, and modifying the seasonings a bit (every curry powder is different, and the one I have needed a bit of heat added as it is rather bland).  I served this dish over Lime Cilantro Rice and topped it with more chopped cilantro (I just recently discovered that I love this herb and now I cannot get enough of it).  It is heavenly, and I will be making this recipe often!

Easy Coconut Milk Curry Chicken

12 oz. halved tiny yellow waxy potatoes*
1 tsp. salt
2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. butter
2 T. curry powder
1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 C. cooked chicken, diced or shredded

Put the potatoes in a large pot and add enough water to fill the pot one inch above the potatoes.  Bring to a boil, add the salt, and cook for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender.  Drain in a colander and set aside.  Rinse the pot and allow it to dry.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil, then add the onions and cook until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.  Set aside.

Put the butter in the pot used for the potatoes and melt it over medium heat.  Stir in the curry powder until well blended.  Add the coconut milk and heat through.

Add the potatoes and chicken to the pan with the onion mixture.  Stir in the coconut curry sauce and cook over medium heat until heated through, about 15 minutes.  Serve over rice.  Serves 4.

*I used Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes; cut potatoes into smaller dice if using larger ones.

Note: If you prefer to cook the chicken in the curry, add four diced chicken thighs (or 2-3 diced chicken breasts) to the cooked onion mixture and brown the chicken.  I recommend cooking the potatoes separately to avoid undercooked potatoes, but the original recipe calls for adding one diced raw potato to the skillet at this point if you prefer.  Add the coconut curry sauce and turn the heat up to high.  Once the mixture starts to simmer, reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes until the chicken and potatoes are completely cooked.