Coconut Chicken Curry (Pasta!)
A balance of exuberant spice and creamy richness, this recipe is versatile comfort food and so delicious. Marinated pieces of thinly sliced tender chicken simmered in coconut milk + coconut cream enhanced and painted by chili garlic sauce and chili garlic crisp. A redolent sprinkle of savory and sweet curry powder, paprika, cumin, and coriander creates some prominent flavor notes and beautiful colors. Perfect served as a creamy chicken stew over Basmati rice or combined with pasta as a robust sauce with some fusion finesse!
Servings: 8
Ingredients
For Chicken
- 2.5 lb chicken breasts *cut into thin strips
- 2 tsp curry powder *mild
- 1 tsp white pepper powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1½ tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 2 tsp garlic paste
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp chili garlic sauce
- 1 tbsp chili garlic crisp oil
- ¼ cup fried onions *crushed
Other Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Canola oil
- 1 lb noodles *Hakka noodles or any pasta
- 13 oz coconut milk
- 13 oz coconut cream
- 1½ tbsp cornstarch *whisked into smooth paste with some coconut curry
- coriander leaves *freshly chopped, handful
Instructions
For Chicken Marinade
- Rinse, dry chicken breasts. Butterfly chicken breasts and cut into thin strips. Add all marinade spices to chicken and massage well (ginger + garlic paste, coriander powder, cumin powder, white pepper powder, curry powder, paprika powder, Kosher salt). Mix well. Add chili garlic sauce, chili garlic crisp oil and crushed fried onions. Mix well and marinate for at least one hour (place in fridge if marinating for more than one hour or overnight).
For Coconut Curry
- In a large pot, heat cooking oil on medium high heat. Once oil is hot, add marinated chicken pieces and sauté for 7-8 minutes until chicken changes color to golden brown, mixing as needed. Turn heat to medium low, cover pot and cook for 10 minutes. Add coconut milk + coconut cream, mix to combine, bring to a boil, cover pot and simmer on low heat for 15-20 minutes. In a bowl whisk cornstarch with ⅓ cup of coconut curry until smooth, add cornstarch mixture to simmering coconut curry, mix to combine, cover and continue to simmer for a final 5-7 minutes. Add freshly chopped coriander leaves.
For Finishing with Pasta
- Cook noodles/pasta per package instructions. Reserve some pasta water and strain noodles.
- Add cooked noodles to chicken coconut curry and mix to combine. Add reserved pasta water, as needed, to get desired sauce thickness and consistency. Cook for another 2-3 minutes on medium heat, add more freshly chopped coriander leaves.
- Comforting, cozy and luscious coconut chicken curry is now ready to serve. Either combined with pasta or served atop plain Basmati rice, this creamy curry recipe is just so good. Enjoy. Nosh Farma'aiye!