Rafi's Famous Curry Chicken

*Due to popular demand (Hi Georgia), this post is published ahead of having a photo available...
*Feeds 5 to 6 people (no joke about Rafi's appetite here)

INGREDIENTS
• 5 or 6 half chicken breasts (for the enumerate out there, this means 3 full chicken breasts), boneless and skinless
• 2 medium size onions
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 piece of fresh ginger, the size of a thumb
• 1 can of coconut milk
• Salt to taste
• Pepper – about ½ teaspoon
• 2 Tablespoons Curry powder (hot or mild; can add more or less)
• 1 Tablespoon Sambal Oelek (garlic free), it’s a crushed chilli sauce, spicy
• Vegetable oil – 4 -5 Tablespoons

Optional – for thickening if desired:
• Cornstarch
or
• Tomato paste

PREPARATION
• Cut each chicken breast into 4 or 5 equal-size pieces
• Sprinkle each piece with salt, pepper and curry powder
• By hand, mix chicken pieces in a bowl to make sure they are properly coated
• Chop onions into small pieces
• Crush garlic with garlic press
• Peel ginger and chop into small pieces

COOKING
• Use a large sauce pan or pot with a lid
• Heat oil in pan, to frying temperature
• Fry chicken pieces in small batches (so it doesn’t crowd in the pan), medium heat, until golden brown but not cooked through (a couple of minutes per side)
• Set chicken pieces aside in a bowl
• In the same pan (may need to add more oil), fry onions until golden brown
• Add garlic and ginger and spices (Curry powder, Sambal Oelek, salt, pepper) all at the same time and cook the mixture for 2 minutes or so, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn – at low to medium heat
• Add coconut milk
• Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, in low to medium heat for 10 minutes
• Add the chicken to the sauce, stir thoroughly
• Cook covered for 35 minutes
• The temperature should be high enough for the sauce to simmer
• Stir every 10 minutes or so.

OPTIONAL:
If you find the sauce is too runny for your taste, you can...
1. Add cornstarch mixed in cold water (like this: in a cup, ¾ of Tablespoon of cornstarch mixed in a ¼ cup of cold water) to the sauce until it reaches desired consistency.
or
2. Add ½ can of regular size tomato paste (changes the nature of the dish but it’s delicious)

SERVING:
• Serve with Basmati rice
• For decoration, add a sprig of cilantro or parsley

NOTE FROM RAFI: Since this blog isn’t really a cooking class per se, use common sense and read the instructions when they are available (e.g., cornstarch package; or how to cook the Basmati rice) or call me. Or better yet, come home,