Kuku Paka

We had a soup/stew-heavy week but I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit and wanted to give it a try. It's an East African-Indian curry and I liked that it offered a substitute for the Kashmiri chile powder. Of course, the substitute was cayenne and though I was sure I had some, it turned out I didn't. Oh well.


Here's today's cast!


Three cloves of garlic were grated into a large bowl using a microplane.


The juice of a lemon was added.


I added salt and since I didn't have cayenne, I substituted for the substitute with togarashi and added some red chili pepper flakes, too. Not much since I wasn't sure what level of spice I wanted.


It was deliciously pungent.


I tossed the boneless thighs in the marinade, covered it with plastic wrap, then left it at room temperature for 30 minutes.


In the meantime, coarsely chopped onions, a tomato, jalapeño pepper, and some cilantro were added to a blender.


I blitzed it till it was smooth. Another wonderful aroma!


Speaking of enticing smells, turmeric, coriander and cumin were put into hot oil and stirred around for a minute.


I added additional salt, then poured in the puree.


I simmered the mixture on low for about 15 minutes. By that time, it had thickened up a bit and the onions in the puree were cooked.


Next came a can of coconut milk. I brought it to a low simmer and let it go for about 5 more minutes.


A fourth of a cup of heavy cream was drizzled in...


While all the sauce stuff was happening, the chicken thighs had been placed on a foil-covered baking pan and broiled on high for about 17 minutes. The thighs and the cooking juices were added to the curry and stirred together.


A little extra cilantro to garnish and that's it! We had it over rice. Chris and Eric especially liked it but we all agreed a little extra heat would have been nice. Tom is not keen on coconut-based curries but even he said it was "ok". From him, that can be high praise. It's definitely a "make again" and I think the next time I'll cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces after it cooks so it's easier to eat with just a spoon. Yum.

Here's the promised link:




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