2 tsp. salt,
cold water as needed to cover 1-2 cups
4 cups chicken broth,
1/2 tsp. coriander seeds,
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 stick cinnamon
10 peppercorns.
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. flour,
2 cloves garlic crushed,
1 cup canned tomatoes (Italian)
1 medium onion chopped,
2 stalks celery chopped, 1 carrot diced,
2 Tbs. olive oil or butter, (fat was the original)
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger,
1 -2 tsp.curry powder,
2 Tb’s. lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream or coconut milk !!!
Stew the chopped chicken for 30 minutes in salted water and chicken broth with the peppercorns, seeds and bay leaf. Remove chicken and strain the the stock. Return to the pot, add seasonings, tomatoes and the above sauteed vegetables. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low heat until the chicken is tender.
In the meantime, saute onions, celery, carrot, garlic in oil or butter, in a large saute pan. Add a tsp. of flour and curry, and cook to thicken 5 more minutes. Set aside on a low simmer.
Add the lemon juice, and some of the cream (or coconut milk) to the stock. Reheat, but never boil the mixture. Makes some 4-6 servings. (Indian recipes would leave out the tomato ingredient.) The remaining cream should be heated in another pot and the hot cream is added when serving the soup.
Fresh ginger could and should be substituted, now that it is available and only (if desired) use GREEK bay leaves. What is often sold in stores are CA. Bay leaves. Ghastly stuff.
When I first made this some twenty years ago the stores did not sell coconut milk, so I had to make my own. Combined 4 oz. of packaged coconut with 1 quart of milk. This was left to stand over night. The now coconut infused milk was ready to go. Being I miser I also squeezed the strained coconut to get the full flavor.
For sharing, Herb Senft 2014
I had a complimentary comment on this recipe on my Google site which seems to have 100 times the action than here.
I posted this edit to the recipe:
Actually, what I often do is simply take what I have in the kitchen. Decide to upgrade the main ingredients with a few store bought veggies and fresh ginger and I was ready to go. Made enough for the next nippy forecast. The original came from a Sri Lankan I knew and there was never enough lard for him. As we often do, we adjust to our own taste bud and health comfort zones.
Aside from the Bay leaf I think I stood by the original idea. Others use anything from parsley to thyme which I think sucks. Now the German in me did refrain from using sour cream but I might do it the next time. Greek yogurt might be another alternative. Anything is worth experimenting with. If you delete the tomato sauce you might use some paprika and a SMALL amount of turmeric to warm up the color