I am going through another emotional rough patch (again?!) and it is taking all my strength to stay mum. It’s been over three weeks, coincidentally overlapping with my post-surgery recovery. One doesn’t have anything to do with the other. For the sake of my own health, I put in my best effort to stay positive, take good care of myself, and put on a happy face. My social calendar is packed. But the usual tricks of cooking, dining, and shopping all taste a little flat, like a glass of champagne left out overnight.
Going through the motion does not inspire creativity in the kitchen. While most of my friends are busy with holiday baking, I can’t even summon enough motivation to make myself a batch of ginger molasses cookies to go with the eggnog. I’ve taken to cook a big batch of something on weekends and reheat small portions for dinner every night. In this cold spell, big batch of something automatically means slow cooker recipe at my house. Week one was chicken stew. Last week was lentil soup. This week’s selection was Chicken Curry In A Hurry.
Thank goodness for the reliable Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook and my 6qt slow cooker. The name Chicken Curry In A Hurry is a hilarious oxymoron for a recipe that needs five hours in the slow cooker. But the preparation was indeed completed in a hurry. Onion, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, curry powder, garam masala, and coconut milk combined to create an intense sauce with mellow flavour. It blanketed chunks of chicken thighs, chickpeas, tomatoes, green peas, and raisins. What a hearty stew to keep out the chill. I served bowls of curry with warm naan and spicy mango chutney. This was curry as interpreted by the Brits.
I love how curry is enjoyed in so many different styles by different cultures. For many years, I thought coconut milk is mandatory ingredient since that was the way my father made it. When I traveled to London with my godparents, they insisted on ordering curry at a pub because it was a big part of my godfather’s formative years when he studied abroad. In Tokyo, Little Brother and I discovered the difference between our beloved Japanese instant curry versus yoshoku kare raisu. I was exposed to a whole new taste horizon when I discovered curry in many guises in India. Thai cuisine added tropical flare with notes of sweet, tart, and savoury. Berlin expats crave the ubiquitous currywurst which I still don’t understand. If there is one thing in common, they all fall under the comfort food umbrella. Comfort is certainly much needed here while I get through this rough patch.
Want more curry? Oh there is a whole lot more in the archive.
