Lately whenever I talk to my friends about food, the magical uses of curry powder always come up. Curry powder just happens to be one spice that I rarely use, so I set out to investigate, asking friends on campus for recipes to create new dishes. I tasted a delicious chicken curry in creamy sauce made with yellow curry powder, mixed Italian herbs, and lemon pepper made by an RA in Clark, Naadu Bentsi-Enchill ’12. Miriam Manda ’12, another RA in freshman Fauver, added the yellow curry powder to her chicken drumsticks simmered in pasta sauce. She learned to make the dish from her friend, Yinka Taiwo ’12. Even though Miriam humbly said that she could never have made the dish as well as her friend, I beg to differ.
“Curry powder” is not a single spice; it is a mixture of variety of spices. WeShop carries curry powder from the “Frontier” brand, which is made up of turmeric, paprika, fenugreek, coriander, black pepper, cumin, ginger, celery seed, cloves, caraway, and cayenne. I recently learned that you can enhance any of the herbs in the curry powder by adding an extra portion of any of the spices listed above, and the flavor won’t be overbearing. Miriam loves her food spicy, and she usually uses the “Caribbean” version of curry powder. To make the WeShop one closer to her desires, I recommend adding extra cayenne pepper and chili flakes.
I tested both of the recipes below in my own kitchen during spring break. These dishes are delicious, presentable, and impressive, yet unexpectedly easy to make.
Chicken Drumsticks in Tomato Sauce from Miriam Manda
Ingredients:
1 pack of chicken drumsticks, about 5 large chicken drumsticks
3 cups water
1 cup pasta sauce (“Roasted Garlic” flavor is recommended)
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 tablespoon curry powder, or adjust accordingly
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
salt, to taste
Instructions:
Boil the chicken drumsticks in three cups of water until cooked. Add 1/2 cup of pasta sauce and simmer. (For thicker sauce, pour out about one and a half cups of the broth before adding the tomato sauce.) In a separate pan, sauté the garlic and onions until they are fragrant. Add the sautéed onions and garlic, curry powder, cayenne pepper, and chili flakes to the chicken. Taste and add salt. You might want to add more spices according to your preference. Miriam highly recommends serving it on rice and steamed cauliflower.
Creamy Curry Chicken (Triple C Curry) from Naadu Bentsi-Enchill
Ingredients:
1 pack of chicken breast,
cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon canola oil
or coconut oil
1 teaspoon mixed italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 onion, diced
1 cup mixed vegetables (optional)
1 green bell pepper, diced
salt, to taste
Instructions:
Heat the oil in a deep saucepan, then start cooking the garlic until fragrant. Add the chicken, then immediately add the pepper, lemon pepper, and Italian seasoning and mix them well into the chicken. When the chicken is cooked, add the heavy cream, yellow curry powder, onions, bell pepper, and mixed vegetables. Naadu knows that the juices from the veggies and chicken will be enough, so she doesn’t add any water to the mix. Let it simmer for about 10 more minutes until the curry settles, the oil rises to the surface, and the flavor gets absorbed.
Naadu points out that she always leaves adding the salt until after she tastes the curry. If you add salt along the way, each ingredient soaks up the salt so you end up adding more than is necessary.
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