Curry green chicken over brown rice recipe

June 13, 6:37 PMMiami Food and Drink ExaminerRosalie E. Leposky

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Some people plan menus and write shopping lists with particular dishes and combinations in mind. That’s not necessarily so in my household. Often, dinner is a delightful surprise, based upon what’s locally in season, available at an afforable price or on sale. As a result, I seldom make a dish exactly the same way twice.

That’s how curry green chicken began – as a grouping of leftovers that appealed to everyone in my household. Their interest was great enough that the dish quickly gained its own name and the request that it be made from scratch and not just as a means of using up leftovers.

Curry green chicken over brown rice

Ingredients:

• One head of freshly cooked broccoli (thus the green color).
•  
• Roasted or baked chicken cut in small pieces.  If you’re making the dish from scratch, use a quarter to a half of a chicken.  If you’re working with leftovers, just use whatever is available.
•  
• One 8 ounce package of mushrooms sliced.
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• Bits of other leftover vegetables.
• Traditional Indian Curry, mild to hot according to your preference.
• Traditional white sauce, using the recipe I learned in a cooking class at Webster Groves Junior High School in Webster Groves, MO. It’s still on the same 3-inch by 5-inch index card I used all those years ago. I double the medium version:

White Sauce
Ingredients (Note: Secondary measurements for a thicker sauce):

• 1 cup Milk (1 cup)
• 1 tablespoon Flour (2 tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon Butter/olive oil (2 tablespoons)
• Salt    (omitted)

Fresh broccoli.© 2009 Rosalie E. Leposky

Mixing directions:

Mix Indian curry powder into the flour and butter/oil mixture, to taste. Start with a teaspoon of curry and add more until the taste is right for your family. If you add too much curry, you can’t do much to make this dish less hot or spicy.

Beat the white sauce liquid with a whisk until the flour and butter/olive oil are mixed. When the white sauce thickens to taste, add the diced chicken, broccoli, mushrooms, and other bits of vegetables.

Spice the chicken any way you wish. Spicing just makes the dish better. Varying the spices on the chicken is part of the reason why this dish never tastes the same twice, and is always new and fresh.

Make the white sauce and combine the ingredients in the top of a large double boiler. Serve hot over brown rice, with a fresh garden salad or sliced tomatoes with a touch of  dried basil.  This recipe makes enough for four hungry people.

Alternatives:

Substitute whole-wheat pastry flour for all-purpose white flour. Whole-wheat flour requires extra butter or olive oil; add  as needed.

Substitute olive oil for the butter.

Substitute water from cooking the broccoli for the milk in the white sauce.

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