convenient and delicious roasted chicken stew: under 90 min, under $1.00 per serving!

In the middle of the week, I got a craving to prepare curry chicken after getting a package of chicken quarters. But, I didn’t feel like dealing with the spatter associated with browning the chicken (yes, I know, you might suggest using a screen to keep that at bay). And how to do it in just a few hours? This is how – broil each side of the chicken quickly in the oven before adding it into the curry sauce – when I say “quickly,” that means broil just enough to sear each side and seal in all the chickeny goodness. While the chicken seared away in the oven, I sauteed 2 extremely large onions with vegetable oil and spices, letting that sweat, then added the chicken and some water. Brought that to a boil, and added sliced cabbage. Yummy!!! Prep and actual cooking time was less than three hours.

I used three of the chicken quarters for the curry. The remaining two stayed in the oven to roast at 350 or so. Those two became part of a stew. Read on!

Convenience Chicken Stew

• 1 can of Swanson’s Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth; (about $3.50)
• 3 cans of no-salt kidney beans; (less than $2.10);
• 2 roasted chicken quarters; (less than three dollars);
• 1 cup of sliced cabbage; (pennies)
• ground pepper to taste (pennies)
• 1 lb of dry rotelle, made by Garofalo Pasta di Gragnano ($1.00 – from Costco, part of a 6-pack); and
• water to cover the pasta.

Put in the roasted chicken quarters and the chicken broth into a large-ish pot. Bring it to a boil. Then add the drained beans. Bring to a boil again. Throw in the rotelle. Bring to a boil, then a simmer. Throw in the cabbage at the end. Done. All of this should take less than 90 minutes. Easy. Tasty. Nutritious. Fibrous! What else could you ask for?

chicken curry command performance

I promised to help one of my friends with a surprise birthday party. Upon arrival, he beseeched me to prep the chicken curry. Oh dear, it was a study in desperation cooking. See, I made certain assumptions…Oh, but, don’t assume, don’t ever assume anything! I asked, um, do you have chicken stock? No? How about vegetable stock? No? Bouillion? He had the bachelor’s kitchen condition…oh, quite, quite developed. So, when I arrived, what could I find, that might turn into a feasible sauce?

• chicken breasts;
• tomato sauce;
• broadly chopped and sauteed white onion;
• tumeric;
• curry powder;
• cooking oil;
• gas stove; and a
• wok.

I put the spice powders on a hot wok. Because the volatile oils were asphixiating the other people in the kitchen, someone opened the kitchen window despite the sub-freezing (about 1F) weather. Onward ho! I put in the sauteed onions and tomato sauce. Frantic for time, I did not even brown the chicken (!!!), just desperately hoping for hungry diners who would accept a simple simmer for the chicken in the curry sauce. About thirty minutes later, the chicken was a fait accompli. Whew!

People said they liked it. And, at the end of the evening, there were only a few tablespoons of it left. So, this desperation dish served its purpose: feeding hungry birthday party goers. The tastiness of the sauce compensated for the chicken issues – but never mind that.

I write all of this only to emphasize that you must try making some kind of curry with tomato when the occasion strikes, because it truly is stupendous. The tomato adds acidity as well as sweetness, carrying all the spices so well. I can’t really explain it, you’ll just have to try it yourself.

Madras Chicken Curry in the Tundra for less than $1.00: even better than it sounds

In the tundra, what better dinner could you have than piping hot chicken curry? Yesterday, there was a sale at the supermarket – I got about 3lbs of chicken drumsticks for $2.62 (or, 88 cents/lb). Fabulous price. Yes, I know, I know, Costco sells chicken thighs for 89 cents per lb…living in the land of the severe tundra, one does not always feel motivated to drive into the non-metropolitan areas that Costco typically occupies. And yes, I was a bit concerned that this chicken was 1/2 off…but I have not yet taken ill, so, I am guessing that the chicken was fine. Of course, once I got it home, I had to make a curry from it.

Madras Chicken Curry in the Tundra (best if it’s below 30F outside!)

Here it is:

• skillet;
• slow cooker* (mine is 6qts);
• chopsticks or fork;
• spatula;
• 3 lbs of chicken drumsticks (or thighs);
• 2 cans of organic chickpeas (or, 30 oz of wet chickpeas you soaked yourself overnight – approx. 1lb of dry – the canned will increase the saltiness factor);
• 3/4 lb of yellow onion, broadly chopped;
• 5 tablespoons of Madras curry (I used Suraj brand, the house brand of Westfair Foods – a Canadian food retailer);
• 1/4 cup of nguoc mam;
• 1 Knorr beef bouillion cube;
• **forgotten from original post**2 cubic inches of ginger;
• 1 lb of bok choy stems (the white stalk only); and
• 5 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

Instructions:

Turn on your slow cooker to HOT. Chop the onion. Set aside. Wash the chicken. Set aside. Heat the skillet to medium. Pour the curry powder onto the skillet. As it begins to toast, stir vigorously with wooden chopsticks or a metal fork. Do not allow to burn! You should really smell the oils escaping out of the curry powder now. Add 3 tablespoons of the vegetable oil. Keep stirring vigorously. Add the chopped onion. Saute aggressively.

Once you have browned the onion, set it aside. Wash the skillet. Set to medium high. Wait for the pan to heat up. Add the chicken. Brown each piece on one side, and flip in 7 min or so to the other side. FYI, I had to brown in batches, even though my skillet is large. After you have browned the chicken, set it into the slow cooker – which should be quite hot by now.

Leave the chicken bits stuck to the skillet.** Set the skillet to high. Peel, then grate the fresh ginger, and add it in. Vigorously fry it. Add 1/4 cup of water to the ngouc mam. Stir. Pour that into the skillet. Next, add the 1 beef boullion cube. Once it melts, add the curry/onion mixture back. Get everything in the skillet simmering hot. Pour into the slow cooker over the chicken. Open the cans of chickpeas. Drain them briefly. Pour into the slow cooker. Mix. Keep the slow cooker on HIGH. Leave for 2 hrs. Add the bok choy. Mix. Leave for another hour. Done!

Estimated total cost of ingredients: $7.53 and some change.

Here’s the math:

1. $2.62 for the chicken;
2. $1.98 for the canned organic chickpeas {obviously, cheaper if you soak your own};
3. $1.61 for the yellow onion;
4. $1.00 for the bok choy ($0.89 per lb);
5. $0.22 for the beef bouillion {1/6 of$1.29 – you get six cubes in each packet};
6. $0.10 for the ngouc mam {typically sells for $1.99 for a whole bottle);
7. pennies for the fresh ginger;
8. pennies for the curry (that was a gift, but, I’m guessing it costs no more than $10.00 for the whole bag);
9. pennies for the vegetable oil; and
10. pennies for the steamed rice that you will eat this with (I buy jasmine rice in a 25lb bag for under $12.00).

I’m not sure exactly how many servings this recipe will accomodate, but, there are about 5lbs of food here, without counting the rice that you’ll be eating with it! That’s a lot. Even if you ate 1/2 lb of this curry per meal, each such serving would be less than 80 cents. Not bad, for a premium meal. Oh, gosh, how to put it modestly…my chicken curry is legendary!!! Yours for less than a dollar per serving!!!

*I absolutely adore using my slow cooker to prep this with minimal fuss, mess, and attention span.

P.S. Tumeric, an ingredient in most curry powders, is a brain booster!

** These bits are fond – very important for proper sauce development! Take that, nonstick pans! (updated 05.12.08).

Update: June 8, 2008 – the photo at the top is from my more recent post about Madras Chicken Curry!

If you are coming to this post from My Open Wallet, you might be interested in my other posts about one dollar meals.