Though The Goddess tends toward being heavy-handed with garnishes on curry, this chicken curry has a very subtle curry flavor.  The flavors intermingle and literally “bounce” around your palate, but the “curry flavor” is a back flavor.  And, this curry is fast enough for a mid-week family meal and tasty enough for company.  Either way, it’s delicious.  This is a protein-packed main course, using only one whole boneless, skinless chicken breast.  You’ll have two boobies when you remove that rib of cartilage that runs down the center.  This is where the breast attaches to the breastbone.  This recipe will easily serve four people and with a few minor additions can be stretched to serve six people.  So, not only is this dish delicious, but it’s economical as well…win-win.

One thing to note—makrut lime leaves, in the past were referred to as “kaffir” lime leaves.  I was just recently made of aware of this.  It turns out this term is highly offensive in Urdu, akin to the n-word here or elsewhere, so please make note of that.  However, you may still see them listed under the previous name, in markets.

A couple of things—you’ll find a couple of things that are available in cities, but not usually in your local supermarket…makrut lime leaves and saffron.  We’ll address those in a bit. However, first let’s talk chicken. I like the cubes to be slightly larger than normal, at least 1-inch cubes.  They are less likely to over-cook and not dry out.  Feel free to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs.  You need about 4-5 large thighs.  I like to add the spices while I’m sautéing the chicken.  The heat activates the flavors and cooks into the chicken, thus releasing the flavors into the sauce.Now, to the makrut lime leaves.  They are available fresh, are rather leathery and can’t really be eaten whole, so keep that in mind.   They have a spicy, lime flavor—go figure.  They freeze beautifully.  They darken, but the flavor is still very forward and true.  I love that spicy-lime flavor, so I want to leave them in the mixture, therefore I prefer to julienne them, so I you’re not chewing on a branch.  But, if you want a more subtle flavor, then leave them whole and remove them before serving. Add the onions, peppers, garlic, tomato paste and julienned makrut lime leaves to the chicken, cooking them all together—again, this enhances the flavors like crazy.  I used dried, minced garlic here, because I knew I was going to do the “make-ahead” version.  You can use either.  Stir in the wine, broth and coconut milk. Now, we can talk about saffron.  Saffron adds both flavor and color, and it is the most expensive spice in the world.  There’s a good reason for this.  It takes a football-sized field of the crocuses to produce one pound of saffron, which are the stamens from the crocuses.  They are hand-harvested, dried, graded and packaged, so you can see why saffron is so expensive.  The good news is that they have a shelf-life of seven years!  You can purchase saffron at The Spice Mill; they have Spanish saffron and at a very good price.  However, if you leave it out, this will still be delicious. If you want the yellow color, add turmeric, but just add a pinch—a little goes a long way.

If you are using the saffron, it needs to “bloom”, i.e. be reconstituted in liquid.  I took a short-cut and added it directly to the sauce, turned the burner off and let pot stand for about 30 minutes.  That worked for my time-line.  You can see how it’s “bled” into the sauce.  If you don’t do this, then put it into a small bowl with the wine or chicken broth; let stand for 10 minutes.  You should do this before you even begin cooking.  I’ve given you the amount of curry powder we enjoy.  We like the “other” flavors to shine a bit more, so I used less curry than most “curry” recipes call for.  I add half at the beginning of the cooking process and the remainder nearer the end to “correct” the flavor profile.  You may need to add salt and some lemon juice at the end of cooking, to adjust the flavors.

The sauce on this is rather runny, but if you want it slightly thicker add 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch to the broth, stir well and add.  I don’t mind it a bit runny.  At times I stir in about 1/3 cup of peanut butter, which adds both flavor and thickens the mixture.  But, you will taste the peanut butter.  Otherwise, it’s the same recipe.  There is no doubt that the flavor improves when you make this ahead and chill at least overnight (see the makrut lime leaves).  I’ve made it up to 3 days ahead, then reheated it and continued with the recipe.  It is one of the best versions of curry I make.

Speaking of vegetarian (yeah, I know we weren’t), this can easily become a vegetarian entrée, I suppose even vegan entrée.  Simply cook green beans, carrots and cauliflower, as you would the chicken, and add an extra can of garbanzos and of course, veggie broth.  There are those among us who aren’t just head-over-heels-crazy about curry and the subtlety of this version is palatable to even “those people”…yeah, you know who you are, but I love you anyway!