Chicken Curry (kind of)

In case you didn't know already, Mark Bittman is a food writer who has a weekly column for the The New York Times called The Minimalist. Even if you don't read the dining section first thing on Wednesday morning like me, you are probably familiar with one of his 6 cookbooks. The best thing about Bittman is his simplistic recipes; they are perfect for the people out there that like to cook, but really have no idea what they are doing...aka ME. This chicken curry recipe is not necessarily "authentic," but hey, there is chicken and there is curry....therefore, it is named appropriately. This is perfect for a weekday night when you don't feel like making something fancy pants, but don't want to order greasy chinese delivery either.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp corn, grapeseed, or olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1/3 cup golden raisins (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons yellow curry powder, or to taste
4 skinless, boneless, chicken breast halves (1 to 1 1/2 pounds)*
1 cup sour cream
Minced fresh cilantro or parsley for garnish

Bittman also recommends adding slivered almonds and a dash of chile pepper flakes. If you want to use yogurt instead of sour cream, just make sure that the yogurt never simmers. If it does, it will curdle.

Before you start slicing those onions, start the rice. Just follow the directions on the back of the box. This isn't rocket science people. Now, get to slicing.


Put the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

When hot, add the onions (and optional raisins), sprinkle with some salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Turn the heat down to medium, sprinkle with half of the curry powder, and continue to cook a minute or two.

Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle it with the remaining curry powder.

Move the onion to one side of the skillet.

Add the chicken in one layer. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side.

Flip.

Transfer to a plate.

Add the sour cream and stir constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture is nice and thick.

Return the chicken to the skillet and cook for a couple more minutes, or until cooked through, turning once.

Garnish with cilantro or parsley and serve with rice. No cilantro or parsley in my kitchen tonight so I skipped this step.