This fast and easy yellow curry provides a wonderful canvas for seasonal vegetables. The base remains the same while the vegetables can be swapped out for whatever is in season at the time. This can be made in the crockpot while you work or as a quick and easy meal when you get home. Either way, it takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. This recipe makes a big pot so it feeds our family for dinner and provides plenty of leftovers for lunches throughout the week. I personally think it tastes better on the second day.
Ingredients
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 1 T coconut oil or avocado oil
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 1-2 lbs chicken or wild turkey tenderloins
- 1/2 c Bragg’s liquid aminoes or soy sauce (will be used in 2 separate 1/4 c portions)
- Seasoning Blend (will be split in two):
- 2 T curry powder
- 2 t ginger powder
- 1 t cumin
- 2 t turmeric
- 5 cups seasonal vegetables
- 2 cups chicken broth (more if you like more liquid)
- 2 cans of full fat coconut milk
- 1-2 T peanut butter (optional)
- 2 T Tapioca starch
- Cilantro, chopped (optional)
- Peanuts, chopped (optional)
- Jalapenos, chopped (optional)
Steps
- Get out two pots: a saucepan for the rice and a large saucepan for the curry.
- Melt the oil in the large saucepan. Add minced garlic and onion and cook for a few minutes while you start the rice.
- Start the rice in the small saucepan. Use a 1:2 ratio of rice to water. I cooked 2 cups dried rice in 4 cups of water. This gives me plenty leftover for lunches during the week.
- Add the chicken to the large saucepan.
- Mix the seasoning blend if you haven’t already. Pour half of it over the chicken or turkey tenderloins.
- Pour 1/4 cup of Bragg’s liquid aminoes over chicken. Cook tenderloins until all the way cooked through, flipping halfway. Once fully cooked, remove the chicken and set on a cutting board.
- There should be a little “gravy” left in your saucepan. Add chicken broth, the rest of the seasoning, 2 cans of coconut milk, and 2-4 T of Bragg’s liquid aminoes and bring to a boil.
- Peel and chop vegetables while curry is coming to a boil.
- Add vegetables and cook until soft (see cooking notes below).
- In the last minute, add peanut butter and tapioca starch. This thickens the curry.
- Your rice should be about done now. Serve the curry over rice. You can add cilantro, chopped peanuts, chopped jalapenos, and red pepper flakes as a garnish as your taste buds prefer.
Notes
Cooking
- Different vegetables take longer to cook. I chop my carrots and peppers into 1-inch cubes which takes about 10 minutes to cook through. Broccoli takes 5 minutes. Frozen peas take about 1-2 minutes to cook through. So I add the carrots, let them cook for 5 minutes, then add broccoli. I’ll wait to add the peas until everything else is almost ready.
- In the spring, I use asparagus, broccoli, kale, cabbage, and any peppers for this recipe. In the summer, I love bell peppers, squash, and potatoes. In the fall, most of these are available as is butternut squash.
- You can easily cut this recipe in half. We have a big family and we use this recipe to make lunches that we can easily pack up for work, but half of this would probably fill-up three or four people.
Time Management
This is an easy meal to get on the table in 30 minutes. Any prep you can do in advance helps. Using a prep day to chop vegetables or buying pre-chopped vegetables can also cut the time down.
I’ve used a crockpot for this recipe and started the curry before church or even before I go to work. One quick caveat is that I chop veggies thicker and don’t like to use broccoli in the crockpot as I find it gets mushy.
Substitutions
This recipe begs for substitutions. If cooking in a crockpot, you can use bone-in chicken thighs and discard the bone and skin before eating. Use whatever vegetables are in season to diversify this recipe.
I use tapioca starch as an alternative thickener to cornstarch.
You can completely do without the peanut butter. I think it helps further thicken the curry and adds a little flavor.
