Chicken Breasts with Curry

Does anyone remember when Pierre Franey wrote The 60 Minute Gourmet, a weekly column in the NY Times food section?  I could always count on Pierre to come up with a simple dish using ingredients that were easy to find in any supermarket.  Chicken breasts with  curry appeared in 1992 and was the very first Indian style dish I tried. It was a big, impressive hit.    How I miss that column and Mr. Franey.

3 tbl. butter

1/2 cup chopped onions

2 tsp. chopped garlic

1 apple, cored and finely cubed, about 1 cup

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

2 tbl. curry powder

1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes

3/4 cup chicken broth

1 bay leaf

salt and freshly ground pepper

4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, about 1 1/4 pounds total

4 tbl. coarsely chopped coriander

Heat 1 tbl. butter in a saucepan.  Add onions, garlic, apple and celery.  Stir until wilted.

Add curry powder, stir.  Add tomatoes, chicken broth, bay leaf, and salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often.

Discard bay leaf and put mixture through a food processor (I omitted this step).

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  Heat remaining butter in a skillet and add chicken.  Cook over moderate heat until lightly browned.  Turn pieces and cook about 5 minutes more.  Do not overcook.

Pour sauce over chicken, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve.

Serves 4

Notes: Serve with an Indian style basmati rice such as Yellow Rice with Carrots, Raisins and Sesame Seeds (see 3/13 recipe) and cranberry chutney (see 4/22 recipe).  Raita would also be a great side. I'll provide a recipe for raita and other Indian side dishes in future postings.