Crunchy Curried Chicken Breasts

Crunchy Curried Chicken Breasts

Adapted from How To Cook Everything

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken cutlets (2 breasts), 1 to 1 1/2 pounds, rinsed & patted dry with paper towels

1 tbsp white or wine vinegar

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp curry powder

1 cup AP flour

1/2 cup warm water, plus more as needed

Peanut or vegetable oil as needed

Freshly squeezed lime juice or rice vinegar

Directions:

1. Rub the chicken all over with the vinegar. Combine the salt, pepper, & curry powder & run this mixture into the chicken. In another bowl, mix the flour gradually with warm water, adding more water as necessary to make a paste the thickness of yogurt.

2. Heat a large cast-iron skillet, over medium-high heat for 2 or 3 minutes. Add enough oil to the pan to reach a depth of about 1/8 of an inch. When the oil is hot (a pinch of flour will sizzle), dip each cutlet into the batter & place it in the skillet. Raise the heat to high & cook, regulating the heat if necessary so that there is a good constant sizzle, but no burning. After 2 minutes, rotate the pieces (do not flip), so that the outside edges are moved toward the center & vice versa.

3. After 4 minutes, turn the pieces over. Cook until golden & crisp on each side, about 8 minutes total. Sprinkle with a little lime juice or vinegar & serve immediately.

Kim's Notes:

John's new past-time is flipping through How To Cook Everything & finding meals he wants to make. This was one such meal. The chicken was really flavorful & a little similar to the flavor of the chicken with Indian spices that we made a month or so ago, also from this book.

We both really enjoyed this meal. The crisp on the chicken was perfect & the flavor was so good! We served it over jasmine rice, with a carrot/cucumber salad on the side. We both agreed it would have been better with some kind of Indian creamy/curry side dish (suggestions welcome). But really good chicken. And easy! We'll definitely make this again.

Thanks, Mark Bittman!