CHICKEN CURRY DINNER

I've had a request from a friend who came for dinner one night some time ago when I prepared a meal of chicken curry with other appropriate Indian tastes. The menu included an eggplant yogurt dip, chicken curry over rice (with many accompaniments), a cucumber raita, nann, a salad of baby spinach with radishes and clementines, and for dessert, a cardomom cake. If I can find all the recipes, I'll post the whole menu here, starting with the chicken curry.

CHICKEN CURRY

serves 6-8

This recipe came from my then-boss and now friend, Jack Lenor Larsen, who used to serve it at casual dinner parties for clientas and associates. Of course, Jack had all the perfect containers to present the meal, usually on a table laid with one of his famous fabrics and puctuated with parts of his beautiful collection of crafts. When I asked him for the recipe, he photo-copied it from the pages of a very old cookbook, written by someone in East Africa in the 1920's. The directions were laced with pungent comments about the preferred ingredients and how to use them correctly. It might be called a "pedantic" recipe, if there is such a thing, and therefore much like the personality of Jack himself. This is a production but well worth it. You can use just chicken breasts if you prefer but using a whole chicken increases the flavor and richness of the dish. If there is enough else gong on with your dinner, this recipe will serve 10.

1 plump, tender fowl, meat only (or use 4-6 large, boneless chicken breasts, halves, not wholes)

3 average onions, minced

2 t sugar

salt to taste

2 T mango (or other) chutney, chopped

1 handful of small raisins

1/4 C blanched almonds

1/2 C cream (or whole milk)

flour for dredging chicken

1/2 galic clove, well crushed

8 whole, black pepper corns

1/2 t powdered ginger

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 " cubes

1 1/2 C chicken stock

1 1/4 T curry powder

1 lemon

serve with patna or basmati rice and assorted condiments

1. Melt butter, roll boned bits of chicken in flour and brown lightly in a skillet. Remove the chicken from the skillet and put it into a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Without cleaning the skillet, gently saute the onion and garlic in the same butter and reserve.

2. Work the curry powder smooth in some melted butter, and stir into the curry pot. Add chicken stock, chutney, raisins, peppercorns, ginger, the cucumbers and salt to taste. Cover the pot and simmer gently..

3. Meanwhile, saute finely chopped almonds in a little additional butter and when light brown, turn out into a stout bowl and pound to a paste. In another saucepan, heat the cream and add almonds, stirring constantly for 5 minutes, being careful not to let the mixture burn.

4. After the curry has simmered for 1/2 hour, add the almond/cream combination and the reserved onions and garlic to the curry. Uncover the curry pot and simmer gently until gravy is thick and rich, bearing in mind that East Indian curry does not depend on flour or other thickening agent for the density of its sauce, but on thorough reduction by the heat of cooking.

5. Finally, squeeze in the juice of 1/2 lemon. If the mixture dries out too much, add a little chicken or veal stock. The curry strength can be rasied or lowered to individual preference.

6. Serve with patna or basmati rice and condiments, coming up in my next post. Stay tuned.