Recently, one of Kenya’s teachers asked me to give a spice demonstration to his class. I love teaching kids about fruits, veggies and other foods, but never before had it occurred to me to introduce them to spices. Thrilled by the challenge, I took Kenya to our local spice store, which is populated with HUGE containers of the most beautiful, aromatic herbs and spices from all around the world. Kenya and I explored for over an hour. I couldn’t believe how excited he was to taste and smell the wide variety of offerings on hand.
Kenya and I brought a sampling of our purchases to his class the next day and the kids were totally engaged by the vibrant colors, exotic smells and different textures. I wish I had brought a camera with me to take pictures of some of the faces Kenya’s classmates made tasting everything from garam masala, to cinnamon, to pink peppercorns, to amchoor (mango powder that they ate like candy) and more — it was priceless. The one spice all the kids seemed to enjoy was the mild curry powder. I was a bit surprised at the overwhelming popularity of curry with a bunch of four year-olds, but it inspired me to come home that night and make this simple dish.
I always recommend to parents that they start exposing their babies early on to all sorts of herbs and spices as they give even the most basic foods a ton of extra flavor. Herbs and spices also help expand little ones’ palettes. Case in point, Kenya and Chloe always loved a touch of curry in their baby food — probably one of the reasons they enjoyed this easy-to-make Chicken Curry so much!
Easy Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and cubed into 1 inch pieces
- 1 pound chicken breasts boneless, skinless and cubed
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 medium carrots peeled and sliced into coins
- 1 large russet potato peeled and cubed into 1 inch pieces
- 1 14 oz can light coconut milk
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat and sauté the onions for 4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and bell peppers, sauté an additional minute.
- Add the cubed chicken, sauté for 2 minutes, stir in the curry powder, salt, tomato paste, carrots and potatoes until they are all coated.
- Pour in the coconut milk and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove lid, add the frozen peas and simmer an additional 15 minutes.
- Serve over rice.
Delicious! Tweaked it a bit by using a sweet potato instead of the russet.
When cooking this dish in a slow cooker, do I just put all the ingredients in and just let it cook on low for 4-6 hours? Or should I saute the onions, garlic, and bell peppers first and then add to the crock pot with the remaining ingredients? I am new to crockpot cooking. Thanks!
this dish really is easy! I loved it!!! made with basmati rice and naan bread yummm 🙂
We love curry and I made this tonight with full fat coconut milk. Excellent! Thank you.
Fantastic! I was really looking forward to it as it was all made from pantry ingredients I always have. Except, as I was half way through, realised I didn’t have my usual supply of coconut milk, so added cream (not healthy, I know!) but it tasted really good! My 22 month old demolished it! Thanks!
We’re fans!
We found it mild as well. Anyone have any suggestions for kicking it up a notch?
We just got done eating this and it was delicious! The kids ate it up and asked for seconds! I did find it a bit mild though, any suggestions on kicking up the flavor?
thanks, catherine! i just made it for dinner served over brown rice and it’s wonderful!
This looks so good and so simple! I love curry and have always wanted to try chicken curry with coconut milk. I’ve done a version with raisins but not coconut. I think my little guy would really like this.
is the chicken cooked before it goes in?
I do a spinoff of this dish in the slow cooker and it comes out delicious!
I was wondering the same thing. I like to cook the onions before I put them in the slow cooker just to be double sure they are really well cooked. I think the slow cooker would be great for this recipe.
Do you think this would turn out well as a slow cooker dish?
I know what i’m having for dinner tonight! Kiddo will love it!
Yummy!