Despite its name, this dish is very different than anything you’d consider “curry”. The name really denotes the liberal use of curry powder, which is the dominant flavor of this curried chicken and rice.
Since the curry powder is so important, I recommend either finding a premade one you really enjoy, or even making your own. I personally used a non-spicy premade one, so I’m not sure how it would be if you made yours from scratch, but it would probably be just as good, and likely better.
Normally I would only recommend chicken thighs for something like this, but I’ve made this with chicken breast with moderate success, so use that if you’d prefer.
If you like this recipe for curried chicken and rice, consider checking out my recipe for hot honey carnitas.
INGREDIENTS
4 cups cooked day-old rice, 635 grams
1 pound boneless skinless chicken, 450 grams
1/4 cup vegetable oil, 55 grams
1 Tbsp curry powder, 6 grams
1 tsp kosher salt, 7 grams
1/4 tsp black pepper, 0.5 grams
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes, 120 grams
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced, 2 grams
PREPARATION
Preheat your oven to 425 f (218 c) and set an oven-safe* pan over medium heat. Cover your chicken in half your salt and 2 tsps of your curry powder.
Once your pan is hot, add 1 Tbsp of your oil as well as your chicken and cook until well-browned on both sides, 1-3 minutes per side, then remove** to a plate.
To the same pan, add your rice, pepper, and the remainders of your oil, curry powder and salt and cook for about 3 minutes while breaking up the rice.
Add your garlic, ginger and tomatoes and cook for another 1-2 minutes, then shut off the heat. Add your diced chicken***, stir, and place into your oven; bake for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is lightly browned.
NOTES
* If you don’t have an oven-safe pan, you can do everything up to that point and then transfer the food to an oven-safe baking dish. If you’re considering cast iron, I somewhat recommend skipping it since the acidity of the tomatoes may damage the seasoning. If you’re not concerned about that however, cast iron would be a fine choice.
** You’re not trying to fully cook the chicken; you’re just building flavor on the chicken and in the pan. Do keep in mind that the more cooked your chicken is here, the less time it will need in the oven.
*** There wasn’t a great place to put this in the recipe, but be sure to dice your chicken after it’s cooked, but before going into the oven.
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