Weeknight Coconut Chicken Curry

This coconut chicken curry has become a nearly weekly staple, especially since it’s my wife’s favorite. We keep all the ingredients on hand so it can be made any time we need a simple comfort meal. The curry is made in the instant pot so there’s no need to even thaw the chicken and the rice goes in our beloved @zojirushi_official rice cooker. Prep time is under 5 minutes. Sometimes it takes on more Thai flavors and we top it with lime and red onions but recently it’s been more like buttery chicken with a generous amount of garam masala and topped with crunchy chili oil. Years ago, when I was 20 years old I tried Indian food in Auckland, New Zealand with the family I rented a flat from. They bought me a cold dry cider to pair with it and to this day I still do the same. #keepthefeast

“Recipe” (I’m a 7w8, ENFP so recipes—and instruction booklets—are lost on me. This is less of a recipe and more of a suggestion or inspiration. Riff away.)

Ingredients:

• Chicken breasts (frozen or fresh), ~2 lbs

• 1 Onion (roughly chopped)

• 2 Bell Peppers (roughly chopped)

• 4 Cloves of garlic (roughly chopped)

• Thumb sized piece of ginger (roughly chopped)

• Red curry paste (small jar)

• Yellow curry powder (4 Tbs)

• Garam Masala (2Tbs)

• Salt (1 Tbs)

• Small can of tomato paste

• Can of coconut cream (Trader Joes makes the best)

Directions:

1. Add chicken, vegetables, and spices to the instant pot and give it a quick mix with a spoon. Hold back the tomato paste and coconut cream.

2. Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes for fresh chicken, 20 minutes for frozen.

3. Start 4 cups of rice in cooker following cooker’s instructions.

4. Once the instant pot cooking is over and the steam has been released, shred the chicken breasts with forks.

5. Add the tomato paste and coconut cream. Season to taste. Switch to saute and reduce if the sauce is still too thin.

6. Serve rice and curry in bowls and top with whatever you like: cilantro, chili oil, sriracha, yogurt, lime juice, red onions, etc.

Super versatile recipe. These are the rules: try softer, upscale nothing, sub anything. I’ve added greens after it’s done cooking, english peas, once even a can of pumpkin puree. I’ve even made it without the chicken before (10 minutes on high pressure) and added leftover grilled chicken to the pot after cooking the curry. Keep the ingredients on hand and you can make this any night of the week and it takes less time than waiting for carry out. Serve with a cold dry cider or an IPA and you’ve got yourself a super quick weeknight comfort meal with minimal clean up.