Curried Chicken and Banana Stew

(from Dave DeWitt's 1,001 Best Hot and Spicy Recipes)

Oh, I'm excited about this one. For Christmas, my parents got Joef the above cookbook. He was, of course, thrilled. I gave them a "thank you" through (comically) gritted teeth. But sure enough, the first recipe we tried from the book was a total hit all around.

I loved this - it's an East African stew, apparently, with Indian influences (curry and coconut). It was also pretty easy - I'd probably save it for weekends, but it's really easy enough to make during the week, too. DeWitt gives it a heat scale of medium, which I found accurate. I wasn't sure about the banana the first night, but it absorbed the flavor of the stew when we ate it as leftovers, and really, it works with the dish if you're up for something different. Also, peanut oil must have a really low flashpoint, because that stuff bubbles like crazy.

I made the whole recipe, and ate it (gladly) for the next two-three days. You're gonna need a REALLY big pot.

3-4 lb chicken drumsticks
3 tbsp peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 cup onion, chopped
2 cups celery, chopped
2.5 tbsp hot Madras curry powder (I could only find mild, but I compensated by buying extra hot chile - see below)
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp ground red chile (I used extra hot, powdered - see above)
2 cups tomato, chopped
1 cup shredded coconut
6 cups chicken broth
2 slightly under-ripe bananas, peeled and sliced

In a large, heavy pot, brown the chicken in the oil over medium-high heat (watch that oil, it pops!). Do it in batches if needed. Set the chicken aside.

Saute the garlic, onion, and celery in the remaining oil for about a minute, then add the curry powder, salt, black pepper, and red chile and saute for another minute.

Add the chicken back to the pot with the vegetables, along with the tomato, coconut, and chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 40 minutes.

Remove the drumsticks from the pot and remove the meat from the bones. Add the meat back to the pot. Add the bananas and simmer for about 10 minutes. I served it over rice.

Oh, and the Naga Jolokia made a guest appearance. Although I used such a small pinch of it that I think most of it just dispersed into the air. But still!