Mango Chicken Curry

It was a challenge that I had left for myself. Sunday night, I moved a large chicken breast from the freezer to the fridge, to thaw. I didn't know what I was going to use it for. I only knew that I was going to use it somehow. I had 24 hours to figure out how. I of course promptly forgot about it.

Monday night came and I began to get a wee bit peckish. The moment I opened the fridge, I saw it. Sitting on the bottom shelf (one would be foolish to put raw meat any higher) in its polypropelene zip top bag, inside a Pyrex dish (security against leaks) was a large chicken breast. It needed to be cooked. And I was the man for the job. Unfortunately, I was also the unprepared man for the job.

Having put a frying pan (not non-stick) on medium-high heat, I quickly searched the fridge, and found a mango. Mango... Maaaannnngooo... Er. Sorry. Anyway, I peeled, cored and sliced the mango into thin strips, and then set them aside. I took the chicken breast and did likewise. I put the chicken strips into a bowl and tossed with just enough peanut oil to coat, a large pinch of salt, a generous sprinkling of Madras curry powder and a splash of Worcestershire sauce (why not?).

I laid the chicken into the frying pan as straight as possible and browned on both sides. Cooking through was not a big deal, partially because the strips were so thin. With the chicken properly cooked, I moved it to a plate and deglazed the pan with a small can (5.6oz) of coconut milk. This is why you don't want to use a non-stick pan. With non-stick, there would be nothing there to deglaze. I added the mango slices and let the liquid reduce a little. While it was reducing, I added a couple of small handfulls of roasted salted cashews. Salted was nice, because the mango and coconut milk had no seasoning of their own. When it looked like the liquid had tightened up significantly, I added the chicken back to the pan and tossed to coat. I let the liquid tighten up a little more, and then served.

Now, anyone that's read a few of my posts knows that I like my food hot. So you probably wouldn't be surprised to know that I used hot curry powder. At least, it was labelled hot. But something about either the mango or the coconut milk really smoothed out the heat a lot, so that it had a much more mild kick. It was actually just about perfect. In fact, I'm really starting to like this Madras stuff. The aroma is smooth, almost sweet. It almost makes other curries I've had in the past seem harsh in comparison. I'm going to have to start using this stuff more often.