Chicken Curry Pita

I rarely cook chicken. I think it’s kinda icky to prepare and I’m really bad about washing my hands. No, not in that way. You don’t have to worry about the food that I’m cooking for you. I don’t lick my fingers THAT much and I always wash my hands before stepping into the kitchen to cook. Super convincing I know, but what I mean is I don’t like that I need to wash my hands so often when I’m cooking meat.  If I want to turn on the sink to wash my hands after cutting chicken I need to contort my body into some funky yoga pose.  All that work to flip a faucet with my elbow. Tisk tisk. How do I avoid this problem?  I stay pretty much vegetarian in the home.

But as I am posting this recipe, I obviously cook chicken every once and a while. When I do, I’m always rewarded with protein filled goodness. Anyways, cooking meat is a pretty challenging for me and I always need a challenge in the kitchen. I can’t always be cooking cupcakes and casseroles.

I’m really not doing a good job at telling you that you should cook this recipe right away. The dish reminded of me of swimming rama, but without peanut butter. Even though it’s dairy free, the sauce has a very creamy taste and texture and gave me a much needed creamy fix. The best part is that the meal comes together quite quickly. As the chicken is chopped into small pieces, it doesn’t take long to cook.

However, I found that if you stop cooking as soon as the chicken is done, your sauce will be a little thin. If you like it like this, I would recommend serving it with some rice and treating as a curry dish. Keep in mind that I’m difficult and wanted to eat my chicken in a pita dangit!  This meant that I needed to both reduce the sauce (read: cook longer) and add a cornstarch slurry. Even though the recipe didn’t originally didn’t call for a sauce thickener, I found it to be too thin “on its own.”

Did I forget to mention, I am officially 100% cow’s milk free but I CAN eat gluten (praise the kitchen overlords!).  I had a very bad reaction when I tried reintegrating dairy but no such problems eating goat cheese.  This is a prognosis I can live with, I mean, goat cheese/milk/butter is classier anyways.  Keep your eyes peeled for some goats milk ice cream and cookies!

Chicken Curry with Warm Pita Bread
Adapted from Healthy Dairy-Free Eating

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of ready-made Thai red curry paste
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon coconut milk
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon almond milk
• 7 oz boneless skinless chicken, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch slurry  (optional)
• Handful of snow peas
• 2 pita breads, warmed
• 1/8 cup, loosely packed, basil, cut chiffonade

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over low heat.  Add the curry paste and warm for 15 seconds making sure not to burn the mixture
2. Slowly pour in the coconut cream and almond milk, stir to combine.  Add the chicken and increase the heat to medium and continue cooking until the chicken is done.  If needed, add the cornstarch slurry & stir to combine.
3. Season with the soy sauce, sugar, salt & pepper.  Add the snow peas and cook for a few more minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in basil.
4. Serve the chicken curry in warmed pita bread or over rice.