You are absolutely going to love this fantastic dish I am showing you today. It has been taken from my Big Blue Binder, and it is easy to make and very, very delicious . . . . using simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen. There is nothing out of the ordinary . . . rice, chicken pieces, raisins, dried apricots, onion, chicken stock and some curry powder.
The Big Blue Binder is a recipe binder that I have been carrying around the world with me for all of my late teens and adult life. It is bulging with handwritten recipes gleaned from friends and family through the years, newspaper and magazine clippings, along with recipes laboriously copied by hand from books I had borrowed from the library through the years. With a large family to take care of, I never had the money to purchase cookbooks way back in the day. I only wish I had had the forethought to cite the sources back in the day! Hindsight is indeed very much 20/20. I would have never thought that one day I would have the ability to share my findings and experiences with quite literally thousands of people. I hope you will forgive me my lack of ability to tell you exactly where this recipe comes from.
Chicken pieces are sauteed in a bit of oil until golden brown on both sides. Do try to trim off as much fat and skin as you can before doing this. You could remove it completely if you wanted to, but it wouldn't be half as attractive. Better to remove the skin just prior to eating. I used chicken thighs, but drumsticks would also work very well. I do not recommend boneless, skinless chicken breasts, as they would overcook and end up quite dry.
After you brown the chicken off, I drain off as much of the fat in the casserole as I can, leaving only a minimal amount and then you saute the onion until soft over low heat. If you really wanted to cut the fat you could do this in a bit of chicken stock in a clean casserole dish.
Once you have the onion softened, you stir in the curry powder, some salt and pepper and the raw rice, stirring to coat it really well with the curry and any pan juices.
Next you add some chicken stock and the apricots and raisins. I am not sure what the reason is for this, but the flavour of curry goes really well with fruit, and with chicken for that matter! Once you have brought the stock to the boil, you return the chicken pieces to the pan, placing them on top . . .
Tightly covered, it is then finished off by roasting the whole dish in a moderate oven. It is almost like a fruity pilau rice with chicken pieces and it is very, very, VERY good! Not a lot of fussing or mussing and clean up is easy because it is all in one pan!
*Curried Chicken Casserole*
Serves 3
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
Add the raw rice, curry powder, remaining salt and black pepper. Stir to coat the rice. Add the dried fruit, chicken stock, and lemon juice. Top with the chicken pieces. Cover with a sheet of foil or baking paper and then the lid. Bake covered for 45 minutes. Serve hot.
This is a great weekend dish to share with the family. You could serve it with some Naan bread, or poppadoms and a salad on the side. I am betting you won't have any complaints! Any leftovers keep well, covered tightly, in the refrigerator for a few days. What I did was to remove the skin from the chicken, and cut it into bits, stirring it into the rice and I can tell you it was even more delicious the day after. Funny how that goes. It is often the case that food gets better tasting if left to "ripen" overnight! Bon Appetit!
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