Fruity Chicken Curry

There are some things in life that you just can't live without. Thinks like hugs and love . . . chocolate and cherries . . . puppy snuffles, good chips, bacon, and . . . ok, I'll admit it . . . curry!!

I had only ever had curry once before I moved over here in 2000. An acquaintance of mine in Suffield, Alberta, who also happened to be a Brit, had us over for a party one time and she made a killer curry! Wowser! It was fantastic. Spicy and delicious and quite unlike anything I had ever tasted. Her name was (K)Cathy Giles, and I have been looking for her since I moved over here to no avail. She was a Mancurian or maybe even a Liverpudlian. I only know she was from the North West and her hubby was named Mick . . . she had two sons and a daughter, Louise, and she made a mean curry!!

I have come to really love curry since moving here and have also come to realize there are many different kinds. I do love a good Indian, but last summer I was introduced to Thai Curries and I adore them too!

I was craving a curry today, and remembered a rather tasty one I had seen on Kevin's page, Closet Cooking. It was fruity and looked spectacularly delicious, with distinct Thai Flavours. It was also quick and easy and I am rather lazy at times, you know . . .

I was sadly lacking in a few ingredients though, the main one being fresh apricots. Ok, the only one being fresh apricots. I do, however, always have several tins of them in the larder. They come in really handy to make cakes and crumbles and all sorts!

It would seem they also come in very handy when making this delicious curry because . . . we quite, quite liked it! I have adapted his recipe a bit to my own tastes and methods, and this is what you see here, but by all means hop on over and see his original recipe. You won't regret it as he has a fabulous cooking blog and always cooks the most interesting foods!

If you don't want a lot of faff (ie. Peeling and stoning of fresh apricots) then . . . just cook my adaption. Either way I'm sure you will agree, this is one mighty tasty curry. (You can adjust the heat by upping or downing the amount of curry paste. Just sayin is all . . . ) You won't need any salt either, as fish sauce is quite salty.

*Fruity Chicken Curry*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

Loosely based on a Thai Curry, this is quick, easy and quite delicious! (Plus it uses stuff that I always have around!)

1 410g tin of apricot halves in juice, well drained
1 heaped dessertspoon of apricot preserves
2 TBS Thai Fish Sauce
the juice and zest of half a lime
1 TBS oil
2 to 3 TBS of red Thai curry paste (I used Blue Dragon)
3 large free range boneless, skinless chicken fillets, chopped into bite sized pieces
small handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped (Cilantro)
1 small red chili, thinly sliced

Place 8 apricot halves in a blender along with the apricot preserves, fish sauce and lime zest and juice. Blitz to puree. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a deep skillet. Add 1 TBS of the curry paste and heat and then throw in the chicken pieces. Cook and stir until no longer pink. Pour in the mixture from the blender. Allow to simmer on a slow bubble for about 10 minutes, stir in the remainder of the apricot halves, cut into 1/2 inch chunks, the coriander and the rest of the curry paste to taste. (I like it a bit zippy, so use about another 1 1/2 TBS, but you do it according to your own tastes.)

Serve spooned over top of some warm basamati rice and garnish with some thinly sliced red chili. Delish!