FOOD

A chicken curry that is speedy, easy and delicious

It didn't seem too much to ask for. I wanted a coconut chicken curry that is fast, delicious and not loaded with fat. Turned out to be easier than I expected.

Let's start with the sauce. The key is to make it rich and flavorful without resorting to the usual culprit — full-fat coconut milk. I considered using light coconut milk, but generally have found curries made with it to be thin and uninspiring. Fat, after all, is mighty yummy.

My solution was to start with a small amount of light coconut milk, but then doctor it up. Pureeing into it a jar of roasted red peppers and a small onion was just the trick. This provided the sauce with body, as well as both sweet and savory flavors. A hefty dose of curry powder and some lemon grass added during cooking rounded it all out.

To cook, all I did was bring my sauce to a simmer in a large saute pan, then add my chicken. To bulk out the recipe with good lean protein, I also added a can of chickpeas. I tasted it as it cooked and felt it was missing something... sweet. But I wanted to avoid the obvious — sugar, honey, etc. — if I could. So I tried added grated carrots. Perfect! More healthy veggies and just the right amount of natural sweetness.

While you could use boneless, skinless chicken breasts in this recipe, I prefer thighs. They have a richer flavor and don't get tough the way breasts can.

SPEEDY AND LIGHT CHICKEN CURRY

Start to finish: 30 minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup light coconut milk

2 teaspoons curry powder

Three 3-inch lengths fresh lemon grass

15-ounce can chickpeas, drained

1 cup grated carrots

1 3/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Directions:

In a blender or food processor, combine the red peppers, onion, broth, coconut milk and curry powder. Process or puree until completely smooth.

Pour the sauce into a large, deep saute pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer. Use a rolling pin or meat mallet to lightly crush the lemon grass, then add to the sauce. Stir in the chickpeas and carrots. Nestle the chicken thighs into the sauce, being sure the tops are covered. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Remove and discard the lemon grass. Serve the chicken with chickpeas, carrots and sauce spooned over it.

Nutrition information per serving: 320 calories; 110 calories from fat (34 percent of total calories); 12 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 90 mg cholesterol; 23 g carbohydrate; 4 g fiber; 3 g sugar; 30 g protein; 600 mg sodium.

                            HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE

Hainanese Chicken Rice is a favorite hawker lunch in Malaysia and Singapore, and a Chinese dish found in related forms all over Southeast Asian (see Thai Chicken Rice)

1 fresh chicken, cleaned but with the pads of fat found inside the body cavity intact

¼ onion

2 cloves garlic

1-in (2½-cm) piece fresh ginger root, bruised

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Fresh coriander leaves or sliced green onion or a mixture of both for garnish

1 tablespoon oil

4 cups (1 kg) long-grain rice, washed and drained

Salt to taste

Pinch of ground white pepper

Cucumber, zucchini or celery cabbage, sliced (optional)

Sliced tomato and cucumber

Chili-Ginger Sauce

6 fresh red chilies, chopped

2-in (5-cm) piece fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Salt to taste

Dash of white vinegar to taste

METHOD

Remove the pads of fat from the chicken and set aside. Bring a saucepan of water large enough to cover the chicken to a boil and add the chicken together with the onion, garlic and ginger. Cook the chicken according to the technique in the recipe for Steeped Chicken. When it is done, take it out, rinse it under cold water and set aside to drain. Reserve the stock. Chop and reassemble the chicken on a plate. Pour the sesame oil and soy sauce over the top, garnish with coriander and green onions and set aside.

To prepare the Chili-Ginger Sauce, grind the chilies, ginger and garlic to a rough paste. Add salt and vinegar to taste and moisten if necessary with a little of the stock. Place in sauce bowls.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the pads of chicken fat to produce liquid chicken fat. Remove the residue. Add the rice and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until the rice is transparent and coated in oil. Add 6 cups (1 ½ liters) of stock and a little salt if you wish. Boil until the stock is absorbed then proceed as usual when cooking rice.

Heat the remaining stock and add salt and pepper to taste. Add sliced cucumber, zucchini or sliced celery cabbage to the stock if you wish, or leave it clear. Pour into a serving bowl and garnish with coriander leaf and chopped green onion.

Serve the rice on a plate surrounded by slices of cucumber and tomato alongside the plate of chicken, bowls of the sauce and the hot soup.