Sweet Mango Chicken Curry

It’s always easier to take something you know and like, and add a little twist. And that’s what I did here. Chicken stir fry is a big hit in our house. By changing the recipe only slightly the flavors can be shifted from far east to Indian. So here we have sweet mango chicken curry. By changing the spices. Allowing the ingredients to spend time together in the pan, a completely different flavor profile is created.

Some thoughts on prep

Firstly , I have found that it’s easier to have all the ingredients prepped and ready to go before starting. By doing this you can focus on the cooking process not the prepping process. Each step will go more smoothly.

Always be careful handling raw chicken. Please read my post about safe food prep for important information. As soon as you have prepped the chicken clean the cutting board, knife and your hands thoroughly in warm soapy water. Also, when cubing the chicken always try to make sure the cubes are as uniform as possible. This will help more even cooking

With the rest of the ingredients it’s pretty self explanatory except for a couple of things. The stock you use can be of your choice depending on dietary needs. Regular or low sodium, chicken or vegetable, but I prefer to use some form of stock over plain water. The soy sauce can be regular or low sodium, whatever is your preference. I like to use the mini sweet peppers, they can be cut into little rings. This is a personal thing, if you use regular bell peppers cut them into thin strips. Remember, uniform size equals uniform cooking

The cooking part

So, now we can move onto the cooking part. Prep all the ingredients ready to cook. You can also make the sauce at this point too, just whisk it all together and set it aside. You’re going to mix it up again when you add it.

We can start with the rice. Rice can be a challenge for some and easy for others. There is a simple rule to follow to make good rice; Leave it alone to cook with the lid on. So we’ll make 1 cup of rice white jasmine rice. I always rinse my rice before I cook it. I don’t know where it’s been. So, 1 1/2 cups of water in a saucepan over medium heat, when it boils, add the rinsed rice, stir, bring it back to a boil. Lower the heat to its lowest setting, cover with a lid. Set the timer for 15 mins and leave it alone.

When the timer goes off, take it off the heat, fluff with a fork. Put the lid on and wait 5 mins, then your rice is ready to serve.

While the rice is cooking, let’s do the chicken. We have about 20 mins to do the rest of the cooking. That’s why I always have all my prep work done first

Pre-heat the pan over a medium heat and add the oil, when it’s hot add the vegetables and ginger. Stir to mix, cover and cook till soft, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

When the onions are soft and opaque add the chicken. Stir to form a layer in the pan, allow to cook one side for about 3 minutes. Then stir to turn, and cook another 3 minutes or till done.

Now add the sauce. Be sure to whisk the sauce to mix before adding. Stir everything together and lower the heat . Be aware that because of the brown sugar the mixture can caramelize so frequent stirring is important. Then just monitor. So this is the most important part, allow the flavors to meld together. So let it be for about 5 mins, then turn off the heat and stir in the mango cubes to allow them to warm, about 1-2 mins.

At this point the rice should be done. Plate and put the sweet mango chicken curry over. Enjoy dinner, and thank you for reading.