Chicken curry with navy beans ネイビー豆入りチキンカレー

This is another one of my wife’s curry projects. This is a chicken curry based on a recipe in Madhur Jaffrey’s “Quick and Easy Indian Cooking.” The original recipe calls for lentils but we did not have any. So my wife used canned navy beans. The addition of navy beans really worked adding a creamy texture to the sauce. My wife put just enough “heat” in addition to all the other spices. One of the best curries she made.

Ingredients: (shown below with little easter bunny to commemorate the season)
6 tbs. Oil
3 bay leaves
5 whole cloves
6 cardamon pods
1 cinnamon stick about 2 inches long

2 or 3 onions diced
2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1/2 tsp. Turmeric
2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1 1/2 tsp. Lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
12 cherry tomatoes
1 can of white navy beans
6 oz. Green beans cut into 1 inch lengths
4 chicken thighs

Directions:

Put the ingredients from the oil to the cinnamon stick in a frying pan and heat until the bay leaves turn dark and the other spices bloom and become fragrant. Remove all the whole spices except for the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. (These can stay because they are easy to spot and there’s no chance someone might eat them by accident.) Add the onions to the spiced oil and cook until they start to brown slightly. Add the garlic and cook (careful not to burn). Next add the turmeric through lemon juice and cook until they bloom and become fragrant. Then  add and bloom the next spices—cumin seeds though cayenne pepper. Add the green beans, navy beans and tomatoes. Stir them into the sauce. Add the chicken and turn it over until coated in the sauce. Nestle into the sauce leaving it skin side down. Cover and cook gently on simmer for about 30 minutes. Then turn the chicken over and coat with the sauce. Continue cooking until the chicken is done about another 30 minutes for a total of 1 hour cooking. 

This was truly one of the best curries my wife has made. The beans absorbed the spice flavor and partially dissolved into the creamy sauce with some left whole to add a texture element. The spices provided layers and depth of flavor. The cayenne added just the right amount of zing to provide an interest that slowly built on the tongue. The chicken was flavorful and tender. This will become a regular in our repertoire.