Peanut Curry Chicken – How to Make Chicken with Peanut Curry Sauce

 

Peanut Curry Chicken – Check Please!

There’s a show called “Check, Please! Bay Area,” which features three locals who try each other’s favorite restaurants, and then compare notes with host, Leslie Sbrocco. We get lots of great ideas for places to try, and every once in a while I hear about a dish that I really want to make, and this peanut curry chicken is the latest example. The restaurant was called Old Skool Café, and the dish was “Abu’s West African Peanut Butter Stew.”

I was working while it was on, and not paying full attention, but I remember thinking that it sounded like something I’d like to try soon. That was a year ago.

Last week, Michele and I ended up going there, and I finally had my chance to order the stew, and reverse engineer the recipe for a video. Except, I didn’t order it. I have this mental defect where have to I order fried chicken every time it’s on a menu. Michele was no help, since she has the same affliction with shrimp and grits.

Anyway, someone ordered it at the table next to us, and I overheard them discussing it, which provided plenty of inspiration for this version. I decided to not follow any specific recipe, but instead do a simple composite of every peanut curry I’ve ever come across.

Unlike Abu’s stew, and many others, I didn’t use coconut milk, as I feel that’s a little too sweet and rich for the peanut butter. I loved how this came out, and I can’t imagine it being any richer. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 large portions:

For the spice blend:

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

2 1/2 pounds chicken boneless skinless chicken thighs

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 tablespoon finely grated ginger

6 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup ketchup

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (I recommend using an all-natural style that doesn’t contain sugar. If you use the regular stuff, you won’t need the brown sugar called for below).

1 packed tablespoon brown sugar

about 3 1/2 cups chicken broth, depending on desired thickness

1 pound zucchini, cut into chunks

1 red bell pepper, cubed

1 green poblano pepper, diced

1/2 cup roasted peanuts

chopped cilantro and fresh lime to garnish

serve on rice

25 Comments

  1. how to find pure Peanut butter.. just stop the next person you see wearing leather sandels. And they will know lol

  2. Is it just me or does this guys voice drive anyone else insane! lol I can't even finish watching this…

  7. Delicious recipe, although I didn't have poblano peppers so I used a couple habeneros instead, made it spicy but it didn't ruin it, the cilantro with the spice and some lime was fantastic

  13. The secret ingredient here is to cook with an ^upward inflection followed by a handsome pause to really let those flavors sink in ;D

  15. this recept is so mega nice :3 omg i try it first time… in 10 minutes the whole sauce was eaten xD today is my fourth time… but today ill try to put some more vegetables in ^^ omg it tastes so mega nice… beste curry ever

  16. This was fun to make, and as Chef John says, quite tasty, but I have one quibble: it's not spicy enough. In fact, even though I accidentally used twice as much cayenne and had to substitute serrano pepper for poblano (serrano is hotter than poblano), this was a very mild curry! I will make it again, but I'm going to have to spice it up considerably!

  17. I made this for my D&D group last night and they LOVED it.  Everyone went back for seconds and at least one of them went back for thirds.  Every  Chef John recipe I've made has turned out amazing!!!

  22. made this for dinner tonight though I had to adjust ingredients cuz I had to make a big pot to feed 3 families. it was so delicious! and I appreciate you so much for sharing your recipe! God Bless!❤ #AllLoveAndGoodFood

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