Chicken, Lemongrass, and Potato Curry

Name: Chicken, Lemongrass, and Potato Curry
Yield: serves 4 to 6 with 2 or 3 other dishes
Ingredients: 3 medium or 2 hefty stalks lemongrass, trimmed, quartered lengthwise, and coarsely chopped (about 2/3 cup); Chubby 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped; 1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped; 2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil; 2 tablespoons Madras curry powder; 1/2 teaspoon dried red chile flakes (optional); 2 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks, skin removed; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 1 can (13 1/2 ounces) coconut milk or 1 2/3 cups freshly made coconut milk (page 318); 4 white or red boiling potatoes, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds total, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks; 1 lime, cut into wedges

December 14, 2011

Here is a curry with big flavors, thanks to lots of lemongrass, curry powder, ginger, and chile flakes. The coconut milk unifies all the elements and enriches the dish. For the best Viet flavor, buy Vietnamese-style curry powder (page 327) at an Asian market. Serve the curry in a shallow bowl with a baguette for dipping or spoon it over rice or noodles.

Cooks' Note

For a lighter curry, use only 1 cup coconut milk and add water as needed to cover the chicken. If the resulting sauce is too watery, remove a few pieces of cooked potato, mash them, and stir back into the pan. To skin chicken drumsticks, use a cleaver or a heavy chef’s knife suitable for chopping bones to whack through the bone about 3/4 inch from the knee-joint end. This releases the skin and enables you to pull it easily away from the flesh. Discard the knees and skin.

Recipe notes

Caramelized Onion Pasta

Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.

Heavenly Halva Cake

Serve a thick slice for breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up.

Vodka Gochujang Pasta

This pasta has some really big energy about it. It’s so extra, it’s the type of thing you should be eating in your bikini while drinking a magnum of rosé, not in Hebden Bridge (or wherever you live), but on a beach on Mykonos.

Our Favorite French Onion Soup

Caramelized onions, melty Gruyère, and a deeply savory broth deliver the kind of comfort that doesn’t need improving.

Kung Pao Cabbage With Tofu

Reliable cabbage is cooked in the punchy sauce and then combined with store-bought baked tofu and roasted cashews for a salad that can also be eaten with rice.

Smothered Italian Sausage

This is what I call a fridge-eater recipe. The key here is getting a nice sear on the sausage and cooking the tomato down until it coats the sausage and vegetables well.

Golden Mushroom Soup With Orzo & a Pat of Butter

This is the type of soup that, at first glance, might seem a little…unexciting. But you’re underestimating the power of mushrooms, which do the heavy lifting.

White Bean Turkey Chili

A dash of cocoa powder adds depth and richness to the broth of this easy turkey chili.