Request for Utensil and Chicken Curry

Anonymous wrote


Chef Bear,

I am looking for an uber-utensil - a potato peeler and a zester. I want the best money can buy - any suggestions?

Also, I'd like to make a chicken curry dish, with a twist for a gal-pal get-together in April. Got any suggestions?

cap from Ottawa

For the Potato Peeler, I am quite happy with my Paderno one, been using it for years and has yet to really go dull on me. Price wise it is quite resonable, have a look at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/Paderno-World-Cuisine-8-Inch-Stainless/dp/B001VMAW3Q

As for the zester, I have a few and the best one I have used that is found at Home Sense in Ottawa is a  Wusthof Silverpoint Lemon Zester.

Now Chicken Curry with a twist, that is a bit of a noodle scratcher and I thought about it for a couple of days and came up with the following:

Chicken Curry Penne

Ingredients:


3-4 Boneless Chicken Breasts

3-4 onions finely chopped

2-3 chopped tomatoes

1 Green chilli de-seeded and chopped very fine

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp grated Garlic

1 tsp grated Ginger

1 tsp Chilly powder

1.5 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Garam masala powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

3-4 tsp cooking oil

2 cloves

1 cup coconut milk

1 Stalk curry leaves

Salt and Pepper to taste

Enough Penne for 5 people

3 tomatoes peeled and de-seeded
(see the following link from e-how on how to peel and deseed: http://www.ehow.com/how_5616460_deseed-tomato-tomato-soup.html)

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. They will begin to "pop" and once that happens, lower your heat and move to the next step.

3. Add ginger and garlic paste and saute for about 3-4 minutes careful not to allow it to burn
4. Add Green chilli, chopped onion, curry leaves and sauté for 5-6 minutes till the onions turn golden brown

5. Add chopped tomatoes and salt and sauté few minutes till the tomatoes are crushed into a paste

6. Add red chilly powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, Garam masala powder, cloves and stir fry few minutes.
7. Add chicken pieces , mix well and stir for about 5-6 minutes
8. Add water as required  if mixture is very dry and salt and pepper. Then cover for about 15 minutes

9. After about 15 minutes, when chicken fully cooked add coconut milk and boil for 1 or 2 minutes.
10. Garnish with curry leaves and chopped coriander leaves

11. Boil Penne according to directions or if using fresh penne, boil until al-dente about 3-4 minutes.

12. Once the penne, has cooked add it to a pan with some olive oil on medium heat and add in the peeled and de-seeded tomatoes. Saute for about 5 minutes and transfer to a large serving plate.

13. Top the penne with the chicken curry, toss ensuring the penne ends get filled with some of the delicious curry sauce and server.

Let me know how it goes.

Thanks