fftf: chicken/veggie sweet potato curry recipe 🍠

majorly craving this old favorite right now

Hello friends,

I had a craving this week for an old-favorite curry recipe from my archive, and realized I’ve never shared it here in my newsletter, so doing so today!

Some of you longtime fans of mine will recognize this, as it was in Week 3 of my Intuitive Cooking 101 Course, back in the day!

A few things I love about this recipe:

• One pot; great as leftovers; would freeze well although it never lasts long enough for me to have any to freeze!

• Great over brown or white rice, or perfect on its own!

• The beauty of the sweet potatoes in this recipe is they kind of melt down and thicken the curry, and they add a healthy starchy element so you don’t need the rice, although I do also love this served over brown rice. I recommend using a garnet or jewel sweet potato - the orange color makes the curry prettier, and these melt down well.

• I make this with boneless skinless chicken thighs, though you could also sub in cauliflower and/or chickpeas for a vegetarian version. (In the past I have added cauliflower in addition to the chicken for more veg and that also works well.)

• On the chicken - I personally HATE chopping raw chicken, so there is no chopping of chicken in this recipe - instead you will either leave it in big chunks and cut it while you eat it, OR (my preference) - you’ll cut the chicken into smaller pieces after it’s cooked. It’s pretty easy to remove each thigh and gently cut it into smaller pieces, then just add right back to the curry. This will be easy since it’s tender, and also allows you to make sure the chicken is cooked through! (Chicken thighs are way more flavorful and forgiving to cook than chicken breasts, so you also don’t have to worry about overcooking them.)

• Flavor bombs - this is important - the flavor additions that make this dish DELECTABLE are the fish sauce and lime juice added at the end. If you taste this earlier while you’re cooking, you may be a little like “eh, it’s fine” - but once you add the fish sauce and lime juice, the salty umami of the fish sauce and citrus hit from the lime juice make it SUPER delicious. (Note: it doesn’t taste like fish, just umami.)

• Ease - this recipe is one of those perfect combinations of simple + straightforward + a major crowd pleaser, such that I have made it on the road while visiting friends as a “thank you for having me” dinner; AND it was the first thing I cooked for “guests” last year when I was 2 months postpartum and we decided to host new friends who had had their baby the same weekend as us! All 4 of us new parents went back for seconds and thirds of this meal :).

Without further ado, here’s the recipe! I hope you try it and enjoy!

xo,
Jess

CHICKEN & SWEET POTATO CURRY (Burmese-inspired)

Takes about 1.25 hours, serves 6-8
adapted from this recipe¹

Ingredients:

• ~2 lbs or 2 packs boneless skinless chicken thighs (can sub 1 head cauliflower + 1 can chickpeas or 2 heads cauliflower for vegetarian/pescatarian option; can add 1 small head cauliflower in addition to chicken if you want more veg)

• 1 large sweet potato (garnet or jewel yam recommended)

• 1 15-oz can coconut milk (full fat)

• 1-2 limes

• 1/2 bunch or small bunch cilantro

• 2 shallots or 1 large yellow onion or a combo

• 2 inch/small piece of fresh ginger

• a few garlic cloves 

• 2 heads of baby bok choy (OR 1 bunch lacinato kale)

• 2 Tbsp fish sauce (could sub soy sauce if vegetarian but the fish sauce is really best here)

• coconut or other neutral oil

• 1 Tbsp turmeric

• 1 Tbsp coriander

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt and pepper

• optional: brown rice or white rice to serve

Instructions:

1. Prep veggies: Scrub sweet potatoes, remove ends and any bad spots, and chop into ~1/2 inch cubes. Some different sized pieces are fine here. The smaller you chop them, the faster they will cook. Personally I leave the sweet potato skins on as they don’t bother me/kind of melt in, but feel free to remove if you prefer.

2. Prep aromatics: grate or mince ginger and garlic, dice shallot/onion, finely chop cilantro stems. (If doing veggie version; chop cauliflower into florets.)

3. Heat a medium-large sized pot/dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add coconut oil to pan and then add aromatics: onion/shallot, cilantro stems, garlic and ginger. Sauté for a few mins until translucent and fragrant. Add more oil if needed, then add 1 T turmeric and 1 T coriander, 1/2 tsp salt, toss to coat and cook for a minute or two until spices are fragrant. (We are purposefully under-salting here because the fish sauce added at the end is very salty.)

4. Add full can of coconut milk and 1/2 can of water (fill coconut milk can halfway with water and add that to the curry so you get extra coconut milk!). Add sweet potatoes and stir to coat. Add the whole chicken thigh pieces (or cauliflower + chickpeas) and gently submerge in the liquid. It might not seem like enough liquid at first but I’ve found that it is enough (and if you add too much water, sometimes it gets too liquid-y!)

5. Bring to a boil then immediately turn down to a simmer. If it looks dry, you can put the lid halfway on to create condensation and heat. If it seems liquid-y, leave lid off to increase evaporation.

6. Simmer for about 20-30 mins until chicken is cooked through (or cauli is tender). {Note: if making rice, I’d start that now.} Add more liquid (water, coconut milk or broth) if it does look too dry. While it’s cooking, prep bok choy or greens. If using bok choy, chop the green parts into ribbons and set aside. Dice the bottom crunchy part by cutting into quarters or eighths and then chopping into small pieces. Finely chop the cilantro leaves.

7. Add about half the crunchy parts of the bok choy to the pot and stir. 

8. Check to see if chicken is done cooking by removing a piece to a plate and cutting it to check if done. Add 2T of fish sauce, stir and let it continue to cook on low. Add the rest of the bok choy stalks. 

9. When chicken is fully cooked, remove the large pieces to a plate and cut into bite size pieces, then add back to the pot. It should be falling apart and easy to cut up. If you are ok with bigger pieces of chicken, you can skip this, or break up in the pot with a wooden spoon.

10. Squeeze at least half the lime into the curry and stir. Take out a small taste, and let cool before tasting. Add more fish sauce, lime, or salt as desired. If you accidentally made it too salty or sour, you can add a little sugar to balance it out. When it tastes good, add the bok choy greens and cook for another minute or two until bright green. Top with chopped cilantro to serve. 

11. Serve over rice if desired. Lasts in the fridge for several days and freezes well (minus the cilantro on top, of course!)

1. I originally called this recipe “Burmese-Inspired Chicken & Sweet Potato Curry,” but I now realize I originally put “Burmese” in the title without thinking much about it, just because it was in the title of the recipe I adapted this from. Now I am re-evaluating what exactly is “Burmese” about this recipe and realizing I don’t feel confident in an answer ... I guess it’s the coconut milk, fish sauce, and lime? Are those three things enough to constitute calling it a “Burmese-inspired” recipe? Hmm… I don’t know! Truthfully my only experience with Burmese food is eating it at restaurants periodically while I lived in SF (it’s so delicious!), so I wouldn’t say I know the key ingredients in the cuisine well. Went back to the original recipe I adapted this from (my ingredients are mostly similar but my method is way easier, I think), and there is a detailed headnote that explains that the (white) chef ate this dish with her family, based on a recipe for “kaukswe” that her aunt who lived in Burma brought back and started cooking for special occasions. I, of course, want to acknowledge/credit the (apparent) Burmese origins of this dish, AND acknowledge that this should not be read as an “authentic” Burmese dish - so I hope “(Burmese-inspired)” covers both of those goals!