Chicken Coconut Curry With Scallion Pancakes

Like everyone who is busy preparing for the Holidays, I need a dish that takes minimal time and effort , but has loads of color and flavor and warms the body on crisp Fall nights. Donna Hay's "New Food Fast" features a great chicken poached in coconut curry that fits the bill. Ingredients such as red curry paste and coconut milk are probably already in your pantry if you are a Thai food aficionado. Sweet potatoes added to the curried chicken adds another flavor element and also, gives color to the dish. The scallion pancakes are simple to prepare and is a nice complement to the coconut curried chicken sauce. Wonderfully fragrant jasmine rice makes this a complete meal. Golden Phoenix is a good brand of jasmine rice from Thailand.


Chicken Coconut Curry

1-3 tablespoons red curry paste (red curry paste is quite hot-I used 1 1/2tablespoons)
6 chicken thigh fillets, halved (if large, quartered)
2 cups chopped (3/4 inch pieces)
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups coconut milk (I used light coconut milk)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves


Fry the curry paste in a pan over medium-high heat until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Add the chicken and sweet potato to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add the stock and coconut milk and reduce heat to low. Do not boil the coconut milk as it will separate. Allow to simmer gently until the chicken and sweet potatoes are done, about 20 minutes. Serve over jasmine rice and garnish with cilantro leaves.
Serves 4.

Scallion Pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour, extra for rolling out pancakes
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup boiling water
4 scallions, green and white parts, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons sesame oil

Place flour and salt in bowl of food proccesor, process briefly to mix. Add boiling water. Process until dough forms a ball. Remove from processor, cover and let stand for 30 minutes. When ready to make pancakes, divide dough into three pieces. Roll each into a circle about 7 inches in diameter. Sprinkle one-third of the onion slices over the dough, roll to flatten into dough.Brush with sesame oil. Roll into a cylinder, coil into a circle and roll again into a flat cake about 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with remaining dough pieces. Cook on a gas or charcoal grill or cook in a lightly greased pan about 3 minutes a side. Cut into wedges to serve.