the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Coconut Yogurt Chicken Stew

After a number of particularly hot weeks during the first half of what most of the country calls the “fall season”, cooler weather, complete with fog, rain, and some blustery winds, has finally arrived in our neck of the woods.

We have a number of soups and stews that we’ve always enjoyed in our late fall – early winter rotation, though lately we’ve been leaning toward Indonesian and Indian flavors and recipes, often using coconut milk and a number of warming spices like curry, cumin, and cloves.

This Coconut Yogurt Chicken Stew is a prime example; it’s modeled after a Somali recipe recently reviewed on Bon Appetite and suggested by our friend Chef Libby down in Austin. After tinkering with it a bit, we upped the heat with more peppers, adjusted the spices to a bolder profile, and subbed in healthier sweet potato (purple sweet potatoes winning the prize here).

The original recipe called for chicken thighs, which are unquestionably delicious, but we think it’s even better with shrimp or an assortment of meaty mushrooms.

This is one of those recipes that looks complicated but really isn’t; you’ll be much more efficient if you mise en place your ingredients as you cook through. And, by the way, this recipe is probably even better after sitting for a day or two, so cook the full recipe as shown and enjoy it again a few days down the road.

And finally, a note for the keto police – yep, that’s steamed rice in the images above. Both my wife and I have increased our daily activity volumes fairly dramatically over the past several months, and have added a bit more carb occasionally – like the scoop of steamed riced in the images here.

3 medium tomatoes, cored, rough chop
1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, rough chop
2-3 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded, rough chop
1 large serrano pepper, stemmed, seeded, rough chop

1/2 cup EVOO or avocado oil
2 large onions, large dice
2-3 large garlic cloves, minced or finely chopped
1.5 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled, finely chopped (might want more)
1 and 1/2 tbsp good, fresh curry powder (see note above)
1 and 1/2 tbsp fresh ground cumin
1 and 1/2 tsp fresh ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp ground cloves
Kosher salt, see below

1 cup plain, full-fat yogurt
2 tbsp organic tomato paste
1 large sweet potato, scrubbed, peeled, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 large carrot, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 pounds boneless chicken thighs, breasts, mushrooms, or shrimp, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can (14-ounces) full fat coconut milk
1 cup cilantro, rough chop, including small tender stems

To serve
Additional chopped cilantro
Cauliflower rice (or steamed rice)
Fresh spinach

To get started, mise en place at least the first 14 ingredients (down through the spice list). Now blend together the chopped tomatoes, red bell, and the two spicy peppers; we like to leave a bit of texture here; set aside.

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or pot, then sauté the onion and garlic until they begin to soften, note you’re really not trying to add any color to the mixture at this point. Now quickly stir in the ginger, curry powder, turmeric, cardamom, cloves, and a generous pinch or two of salt; stir until well combined and fragrant (wow, this smells so good) for another couple of minutes.

Now stir in the tomato paste and then the yogurt; cover and simmer for 1o-12 minutes. Add the prepped sweet potato and carrot, cover again and simmer for another 16-18 minutes.

Finally stir in the coconut milk, chicken (or mushrooms or shrimp), and the roughly chopped cup of cilantro and simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and sauce has reduced a bit.

We typically enjoy this one over riced cauliflower (or the occasional “real” rice) or a bed of fresh baby spinach, topped with more cilantro and a dash of the hot sauce of the week.

Enjoy.