This is one of my favorite curry dishes. Easy to make and looks pretty. The blend of the curry and the natural sugar from the raisins combined with the cream sauce are amazing. Perfect comfort food. If you like Pasta and you like Curry, this is a spectacular marriage. I came across a variation of this recipe many moons ago and have adjusted it to my personal taste. Easy to substitute your favorite pasta but I would recommend you don’t use long noodles as they don’t hold the sauce the same way. The level of difficulty is Medium but only because you need to make sure you have all your ingredients ready beforehand. I hope you enjoy this rendition. By the way if you are looking for an appy to go with this try out my Caviar Toast Rounds!
Makes: 4 Cooking time: 45 minutes. Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients
- 2 hot house tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes ).
- 1 red bell pepper.
- 3 cloves garlic, diced (or more to taste, I love garlic.)
- 100 gr. (3.5 oz.) Sultana raisins.
- 1 bunch of cilantro rough cut.
- 500 gr. (1 lb.) chicken breasts. (or thighs)
- 400g (14oz.) dry Penne.
- 500ml. (16 fl.oz.) half and half cream.
- 60ml. (4 tbsp.) Avocado oil.
- 45 ml. (3 heaping tbsp) Madras curry paste. You can use powder if you have to.
- Smidge of Dijon.
- 60 gr. (2 oz.) toasted almonds.
- salt to taste
- Dice tomatoes, julienne the bell pepper, rough chop the cilantro. Set aside.
- Dry chicken. Cut chicken breasts into slices about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch thick. (5 cm x 1.3 cm ) I also substitute chicken thighs.
- Heat a saute pan to medium heat and add 4 tablespoons (60 ml) of avocado oil to pan. (I use avocado oil because it has a high smoke point and is a healthy alternative to vegetable oil.) Add 1 tablespoon unsalted butter as well.
- Fill separate pot with 3/4 full with water and add 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of salt. Cover and bring to a boil.
- Back to your pan. Once the pan has just started to smoke, add chicken. Stir frequently until golden brown and set aside. Deglaze pan with 1/2 cup white wine (118ml). (Basically, deglazing means that by adding a liquid to a hot pan, it will release all the tasty bits off the bottom.) Scrape bits off bottom while deglazing. Once pan is free from the tasty bits on the bottom, pour into cup and set aside.
- Clean pan and add 3 tablespoons Avocado oil (45 ml). Still on medium – once it has reached its smoke point, add 60 ml. (4 tbsp.) of Madras curry paste or more if you really like curry! Important as this will allow the curry to fully develop in the sauce later. You can add more or less depending on how strong you like the curry.
- Add cream. Then add a bit of Dijon mustard as an emulsifier. Bring to a simmer and add bell peppers, raisins, diced garlic and chicken. Keep at a low simmer while Penne is cooking.
- Your pasta water should now be at a high boil. (Do not add any oil.) Add Penne – the temperature will drop. Keep it on high and reduce once temperature is once again at a boil. I cook mine until they are al dente. At sea level about 14 minutes. (See how to cook perfect pasta .)
- Drain Pasta into colander. Stir to get rid of excess water hiding in the Penne. Then place colander back over the pot (off the stove!) and put the lid over top to keep warm. Any excess will continue to drain.
- Check for consistency of your sauce. Let simmer to thicken.
- From here you have two choices. Traditional: Pour the drained penne into your pasta pot. Add the sauce into the pot and stir. Kimbo’s : Place the naked penne into the bowl and make a hole in the middle. Then pour the sauce into the hole and place garnish. Personally I like mine as I enjoy having everyone mix all the ingredients together. Preferably with Abandon!
- Finish with garnish of diced tomatoes, toasted almonds, and cilantro. Each in its ow
- n cluster on top. Enjoy!
