Spiced Chicken Stew with Curry

Ingredients

• vegetable oil, or as needed
• 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
• 7 tablespoons hot Madras curry powder
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 3 russet potatoes, diced
• 1 carrot, diced (Optional)
• 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk, or more to taste
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• ¼ cup chicken broth, or more to taste (Optional)
• salt and ground black pepper to taste

Step 1

Gently heat some oil in a large pan over medium heat. Once it’s warm, sprinkle in the curry powder and turmeric, stirring constantly so the spices don’t burn—this should take about 4 to 5 minutes. Next, toss in the chopped onion and garlic, cooking them until you can really smell their aroma, around 2 minutes. Add the chicken pieces to the pan and cook them until they’re no longer pink inside and the juices run clear, which usually takes 7 to 10 minutes.

Step 2

Once the chicken is cooked, stir in the tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, coconut milk, and tomato paste. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let everything simmer gently. Cook it until the potatoes and carrots are soft and the stew has thickened up nicely—this usually takes about an hour. If the stew gets too thick for your taste, just add a bit of chicken broth to loosen it up. Finally, give it a good seasoning with salt and pepper, taste, and adjust as needed before serving.