Mad Gourmet's Filipino-Style Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

Blogger’s Note: I really wanted to make January Soup and Stew Month, but our dining adventures kind of took over. As you can see from my twitter, I still cook and experiment at home. One good thing though… here in California, winter is just coming, so Soup and Stew Month continues.

 
Another staple that my Mom cooked when I was a kid was Filipino-style Chicken Curry. I really looked forward to this dish, primarily because of the chicken. My mom said that I really loved chicken when I was young: chicken and fish.

I tried hard to look for chicken curry in Filipino eateries in the San Francisco Bay Area, but had no luck. The closest one that I found was in a Hawaiian-style eatery, but I think theirs is more Japanese-style (per my Japanese friend). With this gap, I decided to cook it myself… with one minor twist, I wanted to use my slow-cooker. I have been meaning to use it more. This looked like a great meal to leave in the crockpot before I go to work and have dinner ready when I arrive.

Unfortunately, we did not have a slow cooker when I was growing up, so I had no idea how to do it. Actually, I had no idea how to cook it at all. Since my mom does not remember how she cooked it, I had to search for ideas.

Panlasang Pinoy ("Filipino taste") had a great Chicken Curry. It did use coconut milk, which I do not remember my mom using (what do I know, I just ate it). Also, Martha Stewart had a good slow cooker chicken curry recipe (also using coconut milk). With this, I think I can get started.

I’ve actually made this several times already and loved the result. I have the put-it-all-together method and the staged method, so not to overcook the potatoes and the carrots. My crockpot only has one setting (cook). Although I do not remember it in Mom’s version, I also added red peppers. I really do not even like peppers, but it adds a layer of flavor to it.

Here’s what I have so far. Let me know what you think.

Mad Gourmet’s Filipino Style Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

Based on the Chicken Curry recipe from Panlasang Pinoy and Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

Ingredients

• 1 lbs chicken thighs (about 4)
• 1/2 big potato, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped into squares
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped (about same amount as potato)
• 1/2 thumb ginger, thinly cut into strips or 1.5 tsp ginger powder
• 1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced (it will mince in the slow cooker)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 Tbsp curry powder
• 2 tsp fish sauce

 

Directions

Staged Method

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
2. In your slow cooker, toss chicken, water, onion, garlic, ginger, and curry powder to coat. Cover, cook chicken for about 3 hours, until the chicken is fork-tender, about 3 hours (do not uncover while cooking).
3. After 3 hours, add potatoes, carrots, peppers, and coconut milk. Cook until tender (about 1 hour)
4. After 1 hour, Stir in fish sauce cover, cook for 20 minutes.

Put-it-all together (almost)

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
2. In your slow cooker, toss chicken, water, onion, garlic, ginger, potatoes, carrots, peppers, coconut milk, and curry powder to coat. Cover, cook for about 4 hours.
3. After cooking, Stir in fish sauce cover, cook for 20 minutes.

Verdict

I think I came pretty close to my Mom’s chicken curry. Personally, I like staged version better since the veggies were not overcooked, but the set-it-and-forget-it version when were going out in the afternoon and have dinner ready when we get home.

I have to make this next time we had a potluck with my family. Hopefully, my Mom would give me more suggestions.