Red Curry Chicken Braised in Coconut Milk – Slow Cooking Thursday

This is a recipe I have been meaning to try, but haven’t yet.  I thought maybe others would want to try it, too!  It is from the cookbook Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Recipes For Two. (Clicking on the recipe title will bring you to the link that I found it on.)  Head over to Sandra’s blog for Slow Cooking Thursday and see what’s in everyone else’s crock pot!

Red Curry Chicken Braised In Coconut Milk – Slowcooker Recipe

Ingredients

1 red chile, seeded & cut in chunks

1 TBSP Thai red curry paste (Thai Kitchen’s is gluten free)

1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped

One 1-1/2-inch chunk fresh ginger, peeled, coarsely chopped

1 TBSP freshly squeezed lime juice

1 TBSP Asian sesame oil

1 TBSP low-sodium soy sauce  (be sure gluten free)

1 TBSP liquid honey

Pinch of salt

2 -3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, trimmed of fat

One 13.5 ounce can coconut milk (do NOT shake it)

1/2 cup chopped dried mango pieces

Cooked white or brown jasmine (or, even Basmati) rice, for serving

Directions

Place the chile, red curry paste, onion, ginger, lime juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, and salt in a food processor and process until smooth to make a loose puree.

Scrape the puree into a heavy quart-size zipper-lock plastic bag. Add the chicken breasts and mix around to coat the chicken completely with the paste.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Place the chicken in the slow cooker. Pour any remaining puree left in the bag over top.

Without shaking it, open the can of coconut milk. Carefully spoon off the top one-third of the liquid (called the coconut cream; the water is laying below…) from the can, about 1/2 – 2/3 cup, and add it to the chicken. (You may reserve the remaining coconut cream & water for another purpose; it freezes well.)

Carefully stir the coconut cream into the paste and around all the chicken pieces, so as to distribute the ingredients evenly and coat the chicken.

Add the mango pieces and gently stir again. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 1/2 – 3 hours.

Serve hot, over your choice of rice. (NOTE: Remove a chicken breast, slice on the diagonal,  place on a bed of Basmati rice, with some sauce & mango pieces poured over top.)