I happen to be a huge fan of curry. And I happen to be an even bigger fan of curry when combined with a coconut sauce. For evidence, look no further than here. So it came as no surprise to me or my family when I decided to try this coconut curry variation from a recent library checkout.
The finished meal did not disappoint in the least. The flavors were so subtle yet blended perfectly. Definitely not an overpowering dish, the tender curried chicken and coconut sauce was perfect over steamed rice and my kids couldn’t get enough. Don’t be put off by the list of ingredients; after marinating the chicken for a few hours, this comes together in a snap. This proved to be a very delicious and easy meal.
Note: There have been mixed reviews on this recipe, but I continue to love it each time I make it. Addressing the issue of those who have mentioned it might be missing something, I’ve played a bit with the recipe and have found that I have better success using a yellow curry powder (mine is the Hot Madras Curry Powder by McCormick) then I do using a red curry powder. It seems to be more flavorful using this type of curry. I’ve also increased the salt just a little. The flavors of the finished dish are simple and subtle but definitely combine to be very tasty with just a faint hint of heat.
Ingredients
- 3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped (by seeding the jalapeno you lose most of the spice/heat but retain great flavor)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 14-ounce can light coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 3 cups hot cooked rice
Directions
- Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. Place in medium bowl. Stir together curry, 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper and chili powder. Sprinkle over chicken, tossing to coat evenly. Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours.
- In a large nonstick frying pan, stir onion, basil, garlic and peppers in hot oil over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, until onion is translucent. Add chicken and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook for 5-6 minutes until no longer pink.
- Combine coconut milk and cornstarch and whisk well to combine. Carefully add to skillet, whisking vigorously. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Stir in ginger. Cook and stir for another minute. Serve over hot rice.
Recipe Source: adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
I found your dish on Pinterest and I’m SOOO excited! I’m planning a Jamaican themed wedding/honeymoon shower and was looking for something easy/flavorful to prepare for 100+ guests. I made a small ”test” batch tonight and it was wonderful.
I didn’t use cornstarch in the sauce as I am fridge/freezing as I go along this week but this turned out beautifully. I added Cumin, onion and garlic powder to the marinade and just enough coconut milk to deglaze the pan. I hope to heat the dish back up with a coconut milk/curry sauce the day of the event. Thanks for a beautifully simple and delicious addition to my menu!!
I just finished cleaning up dinner after having made this. DELISH! My kids aren’t picky or anything, but when it comes to spicier dishes, they can be a little wimpy. I kicked up the heat with this one and they didn’t even complain. I tweaked it just a teensy bit by adding a bit more cumin as well as adding a few tablespoons of Hot Curry Paste to the onions and jalapenos while they were cooking. I will definitely be adding this one to the dinner rotation. Thanks!
*by adding more curry, not cumin. lol
I made this last night and we all enjoyed it. I was worried about the basil curry combination and was surprised at how well they blended together. I used less garlic (only 3 ) and put all the salt in with the spices as a rub on the cubed chicken. I dried the chicken before cutting it and I put it in a plastic bag to sit in the fridge until time to cook. I also just used ground yellow curry powder from Farmer Brother’s. Thanks for sharing. We will definitely have this again.
I have been on a big Indian Food kick lately. Made an amazing chicken tiki masala last weekend and was looking forward to making this last night. My family really enjoyed it! Before cooking the rice I added some lemon zest and chopped ginger. After the rice was finished I tossed in some chopped cilantro. This made me think that some chopped cilantro in this sauce would be great. This is the first recipe of yours I have tried and can’t wait to try more!
I just made this for dinner last night and it was SO DELICIOUS! My husband loved it too and had to use great restraint to keep from eating too much.
I did add a couple tablespoons of brown sugar which really helped round out the flavor. So yummy! Thanks for the recipe! I’ll definitely be making this again soon!
I made this the other night and finished off the leftovers today. We love the flavor. I found a pin on Pinterest the other day that suggested using chia seeds as a thickener instead of corn starch, so I gave it a try. It was a great substitution and I would recommend it to other people who are not entirely fond of corn starch (I think it makes the leftovers a little chalky). I subbed 1 tbsp for 1 tbsp.
Definitely making this again… and other recipes from this blog! Well done.
[...] http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/09/basil-chicken-in-coconut-curry-sauce.html [...]
An amazingly flavorful dish that is surprisingly simple to execute.
I was craving something curry today, and came across your recipe on Pinterest. My whole family loved it! It was the perfect comfort food to end the day with. Thank you for posting!
Oh, and I forgot to say, I added some mini sweet bell pepper chunks and some chunks of zucchini . I also omitted the jalapenos, simply because I didn’t have any on hand.
This is a most delicious recipe!!! I have also recommended it on my blog http://mamaknowszest.wordpress.com/.
Kindly,
Christina
I made this last night for dinner and my husband and I both loved it! I used regular coconut milk, as I could not find light. The flavors were great! I think this recipe is restaurant quality. Thank you for sharing!
I made this recipe tonight for myself and my parents. They love spicy food, but I definitely don’t, and we finished this recipe between the three of us. No leftovers here!
I made a couple modifications – I only used one jalapeno because I’m a heat wimp, and I used fresh basil so I used about 4 leaves cut up. (2.5-3 tbsp, I’d guess).
It was a great recipe, and not too spicy with the one large jalapeno that I used. I will definitely be making this one again.
Great meal as always! I think I’ve now made every meal you have with curry and coconut milk and they are all amazing. Keep them coming! Your other meal are amazing too but the curry ones are my favorite.
We LOVED this tonight! I didn’t have jalepenos so I used green peppers instead, regular onion instead of purple, and I didn’t have fresh ginger so I used dried and it was still fantastic! Thanks so much…this is a favorite for my whole family now!
Made this tonight – DELISH! A keeper for sure! I didn’t have jalapenos nor red onion. I used a regular onion. Also, I didn’t have the time to let the chicken sit with the seasonings any longer than the prep time. Thanks for the great recipe!
My friend just showed me your website, and I LOVE it! I LOVE curry, so I’d like to try this tomorrow, but I have a quick question. How many ounces of chicken is 3 breast halves?? Isn’t each breast about 5 ounces, so do you really only use 7-8 ounces of chicken for this whole dish?
Venessa – I’m glad you found your way here! The amount of chicken I use in this recipe is about 1 1/2 pounds, give or take. Hope that helps!
Loved this, whole family was very happy with the result! Thanks for the recipe!
I am a college student and I recently moved in with my long term boyfriend. We have been playing around with different recipes. We have tried about 10 different chicken recipes with success, but for the most part…they tasted very similar. I was a little nervous to try this one as cooking with curry and coconut milk were new to me. But it was incredibly simple and fast to prepare and cook (which is good because I have homework to do!). My boyfriend took a few bites without saying something, then finally he said, “This my favorite dish so far. It’ delicious. I want seconds.”, all in between bites of course. We gobbled this right up! It was so good! I took about half of the jalapeño seeds out and it was just the right temperature for me, although my boyfriend was sad to see me throw them out. Anyways, great recipe! We loved it and will be making it again when our friends come to visit! Thanks!
I made this tonight and it was fantastic! I followed the recipe perfectly except I used a package of chicken thighs instead of the breasts because that’s what I had on hand. It was so flavourful, and my husband loved it! Thank you so much for this great recipe
Best recipe ever!!!! Even my tiny grand babies eat this stuff up!
WOW! I just made this tonight for my small group and it was A-MAY-ZING! I’m going to add this to my ‘make often’ recipes! Thank you!!
this was delicious!! i used couscous instead of rice and added green beans on the side. i will definitely be making this again!
Just made this dish for dinner. I was worried about the heat, so I used 1/4 tsp. of cayenne pepper as a substitute for the jalapeño. Not too hot but left us feeling warm and happy inside. I also used dried ginger instead of fresh grated and added it to the season rub on the chicken. Very flavorful on basmati rice. I will definitely be incorporating this recipe into my rotation. Thanks Melanie–another winner.
I will be trying this recipe, because I’m a big fan of coconut and curry, too. However, I wanted to say something about the jalapenos being too hot. Last year, I had way too many tomatoes in the garden, so I wanted to can some salsa. I went to a local market to get ingredients and was a bit curious about the jalapenos. I wanted to know how to tell if they were fresh and ripe, since I’d never grown them. I asked a Mexican couple that was shopping there about how to tell if they were ripe, and the gentleman took one of the jalapenos, broke it open and smelled it. He said something to his wife, and she interpreted – “those jalapenos are not very hot”. Obviously, my questions did not translate well, but the answer indicates that there are different heat levels in the different batches of jalapenos. This makes sense because every plant produces a different taste depending on variety, amount of rain & sun, etc. Also, when I lived in Texas, the “mild” jalapenos I bought at the grocery were way hotter than the mild ones I buy up here in Washington, so there must be a huge difference in heat depending on where you purchase. Sorry for the long story, but it may explain why some people can make this dish and it is way too hot to eat when others find it mild (besides the obvious difference in taste. Anytime I even use ground pepper, I have one kid that cannot eat it because it’s too hot. I always make nachos with jalapenos on a quarter of them. That guarantees that I get at least some of them before the 4 teenagers get to them!)
Just tried this tonight using yellow curry powder. Followed the recipe exactly except added a 1/2 tsp of garam masala, a dash of red cayenne pepper, and fresh basil. I added roasted acorn squash (cubed) at the end to add extra veggies. I got rave reviews from everyone and the hubs said it should be a part of our regular rotation. Thanks for such a great recipe!
Very yummy! Doubled it but still only added one jalapeno and it had plenty of kick with just one in a doubled recipe. Would not add more if your family doesn’t like things too spicy. Very easy and good flavor. Will make again.
So, I’ve found when making this dish to use curry paste and 2 TBS soy sauce. It REALLY pumps up the flavor! For me, that was what was missing.
I always add at least 1 TBS of Asian fish sauce. I gives my curry dishes that background flavor. Maybe that would help round out some of the flavors.
Hello!
Love the recipe, I plan on making it tonight! Quick question.. If I were to use fresh basil instead of dried, how much would you recommend?
Thanks!
Rachel – probably about 1/4 cup fresh basil – dependent on taste. Use more or less depending on how strong you want the basil flavor.
[...] BASIL COCONUT CURRY CHICKEN (slightly adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe) [...]
Just made this tonight and it was wonderful! So much flavour! I found you through Pinterest and I’m so glad I did, this is going on the regular rotation!
Could I marinate the chicken in the morning and leave it in the fridge until dinnertime? And how many does this recipe serve? Thanks!
Georgia – sure, you could marinate chicken through the day. It serves 4-6.
I have to agree with other readers that there is something missing; maybe cumin or coriander? Or lime juice? Also, I don’t think you should put Basil in the title if you are only using a tablespoon of dried basil. I personally added fresh basil and it still needed something more.
And it’s HOT! But we like it that way.
Hey im an Indian.. and believe me we have multiple curry powders for different dishes. Can you please specify the type of curry powder you used?
Michelle – I stock several varieties in my cupboard and use them interchangeably. I have Penzey’s Sweet Curry Powder, Spice Islands Hot Madras Curry Powder and a generic red curry powder. I’ve used all of them in this recipe (at different times).
thanks for the reply!! now i know what to do!
Very, very, good! I used a yellow onion instead of red, because that is what I had, and instead of the jalapeno, I added about a 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper. Delish!
I made this and practically licked the bowl! I put the chicken in the fridge for 72 hours instead of 2 because my husband had an emergency appendectomy but it still tastes fabulous! I love Japanese (brown) curry, now I love this too!
For the most part I thought this was really good. But I felt like it was lacking something. It needs fresh basil. I didn’t have any so I used cilantro instead. It was pretty good and my family loved it
Could this easily be doubled? I’m asking because I don’t know the effect on the coconut milk if you have 28 ounces cooking all at once, and I have a big family that loves curry. Made some alterations though like omitting the jalapeno so I found it to be very mild (was going to add red pepper flakes but forgot to add them in the process). I’m going to play around with this recipe and add more vegetables like carrots and potatoes to bulk it up. Great recipe! Thanks!
I double this every time I make it and it cooks up fine.
Sue – yes, this can easily be doubled.
This dish looks tasty! Could it be done in the crock pot?
Kati – I’ve never tried it in a slow cooker so you’d have to experiment.