a new favorite cookbook of mine. According to the book, this is a popular dish from East Africa known there as Kuku Nanazi. Although I’m mostly exploring South African recipes while we’re here in Cape Town, it’s fun to read about nearby cuisines and experiment with them. The original recipe called for shrimp… but I’m not too keen on combining meats like that, unless it’s beef and pork in sausage! So I decided to keep it simple and just use chicken.The pineapple in this dish does an excellent job of balancing out the heat from the green chiles. We had this curry with basmati rice cooked in coconut milk, and it was perfect!
Start off by sautéing onions and garlic in olive oil until soft and fragrant.
Next, all of the lovely spices. This is my favorite part of making any curry. We’re using ground ginger, curry powder, ground cardamom, turmeric, and ground coriander, along with the usual staples, salt and pepper.
You’ll also add the green chile at this point. I recommend using half a chile- we really like spicy and this was plenty of heat for us. If you really want to kick it up, throw in the whole thing. In fact, the original recipe says 1-2.
Once the you can smell the spices, add coconut milk, cubed chicken breasts, and chopped pineapple. Usually, I would use a fresh pineapple, but this time I will admit I used canned. I didn’t feel like playing the “is it ripe?” guessing game and then wrestling it open. I know, I know, I’m lazy.
Let the whole thing simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is a little thicker.
Aren’t curries pretty? I love the vibrant orangey yellow color! This was really simple and quick to prepare, it definitely falls in the weeknight dinner category. It also makes great leftovers for lunch.
Serve with veggies and rice, if you so please! For those who are paleo, coconut cauliflower rice would be excellent with this.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½-1 fresh green chile, finely diced
- 1 can coconut milk
- 5-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
- 1 small pineapple, cubed or 1 can cubed pineapple
- In a medium-sized pot over medium heat, add the olive oil, onion, and garlic. Saute until onion is soft and garlic is fragrant.
- Add the ginger, curry powder, cardamom, coriander, salt, pepper, and chile. Saute for 1-2 minutes, or until spices are fragrant.
- Add the coconut milk, chicken breasts, and pineapple. Bring coconut milk to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
- Serve with coconut rice and veggies of choice.
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