Chicken, Lemongrass, and Potato Curry

Name: Chicken, Lemongrass, and Potato Curry
Yield: serves 4 to 6 with 2 or 3 other dishes
Ingredients: 3 medium or 2 hefty stalks lemongrass, trimmed, quartered lengthwise, and coarsely chopped (about 2/3 cup); Chubby 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped; 1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped; 2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil; 2 tablespoons Madras curry powder; 1/2 teaspoon dried red chile flakes (optional); 2 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks, skin removed; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 1 can (13 1/2 ounces) coconut milk or 1 2/3 cups freshly made coconut milk (page 318); 4 white or red boiling potatoes, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds total, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks; 1 lime, cut into wedges

December 14, 2011

Here is a curry with big flavors, thanks to lots of lemongrass, curry powder, ginger, and chile flakes. The coconut milk unifies all the elements and enriches the dish. For the best Viet flavor, buy Vietnamese-style curry powder (page 327) at an Asian market. Serve the curry in a shallow bowl with a baguette for dipping or spoon it over rice or noodles.

Cooks' Note

For a lighter curry, use only 1 cup coconut milk and add water as needed to cover the chicken. If the resulting sauce is too watery, remove a few pieces of cooked potato, mash them, and stir back into the pan. To skin chicken drumsticks, use a cleaver or a heavy chef’s knife suitable for chopping bones to whack through the bone about 3/4 inch from the knee-joint end. This releases the skin and enables you to pull it easily away from the flesh. Discard the knees and skin.

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