Recipe: Curried Chicken with Chutney and Raisins

The dish

The plate

The menu says, "Sunday: Curried Chicken with Raisins / Curried Carrots with Raisins." What do I mean by that? 

I mean that this morning, Mr. Big Food planned out the menu for the week based on what was going on this week, and then we went to the grocery store. And since today is Sunday, Mr. Big Food knew he could do some cooking-- since he's not at the office on Sundays he can just hang out in the kitchen watching NASCAR and such and cook. (I kid.) So we had curried stuff for Sunday supper.

He adapted the recipe. The Piglet does not stock mango chutney.

It was delicious. But here are the funny things. Look first at how obsessed the 1986 recipe is. It comes from this cookbook:

Healthy Home Cooking: Fresh Ways with Poultry; The Editors of Time-Life Books; Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia; 1986

"Calories 475; Protein 45g; Cholesterol 126mg; Total fat 22g; Saturated fat 4g; Sodium 437mg"

Look next at how involved the recipe is. If I'm remembering correctly, in 1986 we women were wearing suit jackets with shoulder pads to give us "upper body presence." And Time-Life was instructing us to make Curried Chicken with Chutney and Raisins. And we couldn't even write cooking at home off as a tax deduction.

~~

“Suggested accompaniments: steamed rice; side dishes of yogurt, unsalted peanuts, and chopped banana”—Fresh Ways with Poultry (1986)

CURRIED CHICKEN WITH CHUTNEY AND RAISINS

Serves 4

Working time: about 30 minutes; total time: about 1 hour

Calories 475; Protein 45g; Cholesterol 126mg; Total fat 22g; Saturated fat 4g; Sodium 437mg

3 lb chicken, skinned, cut into serving pieces

½ tsp salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

¼ C cornmeal

3 Tbsp safflower oil

1 onion, chopped fine

1 carrot, peeled, chopped fine

½ small bell pepper, chopped fine

3 cloves garlic, chopped fine

¾ lb tomatoes, preferably Italian plum variety, seeded, chopped coarse, juices reserved

1 ½ C unsalted chicken stock (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)

1 Tbsp curry powder

2 tsp mango chutney

1 bay leaf

1 ½ Tbsp dark raisins

1 ½ Tbsp golden raisins

1 Tbsp sesame seeds

Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper, dredge lightly in cornmeal. Heat 2 Tbsp oil over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed flame-proof casserole with a lid large enough to hold chicken pieces in a single layer and brown chicken pieces for 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from casserole. Preheat oven to 350^o. Put remaining 1 Tbsp oil in casserole with drippings, add onion, carrot, and green pepper, and sauté lightly for about 2 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute longer. Pour in tomatoes with their reserved juice and stock, stir in curry powder, chutney, bay leaf, 1 Tbsp dark raisins, and 1 Tbsp golden raisins, return chicken to casserole, and bring mixture to a simmer. Cover casserole and bake 1 hour. While chicken is baking, brown sesame seeds in oven for about 10 minutes. Serve chicken straight from the casserole or arrange on a serving platter, with toasted sesame seeds and remaining ½ Tbsp dark raisins and ½ Tbsp golden raisins scattered over the top.