Ethnic DOESN'T mean more work!

Last week me and my husband ventured out to an ethnic food store that we had just discovered. My hopes were high and I was ready to do some shopping.But I must admit that after shopping there the overpriced food and inconvenience of making a separate trip to get groceries left a sour taste in my mouth. I realized that the reason I never cook ethnic food is because you have to go out of your way to do so by making a special trip to these stores. While this can be fun every once in a while, the average college student does not have the money or time to go scavaging through different stores for ingredients. Every second matters and that's why it's important that we can do all of our grocery shopping in one place, Even if we want to cook ethnic food!

So this week I made curry that everyone can make AND all of the ingredients can be found at your usual grocery store. All of these "special" ingredients can be found in the ethnic food aisle. Hooray for time saving!

You'll Need:

2-3 Chicken Thighs

Brown chicken pieces in some olive or canola oil. I like to use skinless, boneless chicken thighs, but breast meat on the bone would work, as long as you cut them in half (they tend to dry out more than the thigh meat). Remove meat from pan (and some of the chicken fat if there is a lot left in the pan), then add 1 more Tbsp of oil, and sauté the following:

1 onion, sliced into strips

1 garlic clove minced

Once onion is wilted, add garlic stir slightly, then add the following spices:

3 Tbsp curry powder, more or less to taste

1 Tbsp coriander, more or less to taste

1 Tbsp cumin, more or less to taste

2 Tbsp red curry paste, start with 2 Tbsp then add more after it cooks a bit. The flavor get stronger as it simmers.

1-2 tsp salt

Simmer the spices in the oil to meld the ingredients

Add one can coconut milk, shake well before opening.

Turn heat down, simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste the mixture and see if it could use more spices. May need more curry powder if that is lacking. Coriander is a licorice taste, more of a bitter taste, but it adds flavor. No flavor, add a bit more salt, sometimes that brings out the other spices. Too salty, add a bit of sugar. Once the flavors taste about right, add the meat and simmer on low to medium heat. Let it simmer about 30 minutes.

Happy eating food lovers!