Slow Cooker Filipino Chicken Curry



I love Indian dishes and have eaten them in restaurants and have cooked them myself.  However, I still have a hankering for the chicken curry prepared the Filipino way.

Every Sunday when I was growing up, I always looked forward to our  family consisting of my Tatay (father) and Nanay (mother),  my two sisters (Ate Bebeng, Menchie), three brothers (the late Anton, Benjie and Chot) visiting my maternal grandmother at her house in Quezon City.   This was about a half hour to 45 minute drive in our jeep from our home in Malabon, Metro Manila. The highlight of the day was lunch consisting of dishes prepared by one or more of my aunts, Titas Con, Awing, Eyang and Loly, all of whom stayed single except for the latter. 

My brothers, sister and a cousin with my grandmother, Lola Sepa at the living room at her house in Quezon City, Philippines.  Menchie our youngest was not born yet when this was taken.  Left ro right:  Benjie, Anton, my Lola with Chot in front of her, me, Ate Bebeng and cousin Nonie.

My parents, Benjamin and Natividad,  and four of us siblings ( myself, Benjie, Ate Bebeng and Anton in front) by the piano at my Lola Sepa's house. 

One of the favorite dishes served during those splendid lunches was chicken curry.  The painstaking preparation consisted of shredding the fresh coconut to be used in a sort of a sawhorse where the person sat and shredded the coconut right from its shell.  The juice then was lovingly expressed from the shredded coconut by hand.  Sometimes live chickens were butchered and dumped in boiling water to remove their feathers. 

Although they prepared the same dishes over and over again, my aunts were always discussing how they could improve cooking the dishes better every week.  They were foodies to the max.

I remember the taste of the Filipino chicken curry as being very simple, and less complex than a tikka masala for example.   It did not have many spices other than plain curry powder straight from a McCormick bottle.  Its texture due to the coconut milk used just had the right thickness to soak the rice.  The coconut milk also imparted that exotic but not too sweet taste.  For the final Filipino touch, patis (fish sauce) was added to balance the sweetness of the coconut milk.  So so good.  Memories of those Sundays came back when I ate the recreation of this dish using the recipe below.

I decided to cook this dish in a slow cooker this past Sunday while I went to visit my granddaughter, Maddie, whom I have not seen for a week.  I needed my Maddie fix.  The soft texture of the chicken complemented the simple but rich tasting curry sauce.  Easy and delicious.  Perfect lunch or dinner for a busy Sunday with the family. 

Slow Cooker Filipino Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

 

• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 cup coconut milk from a can
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 - 2 tbsp patis (fish sauce) or according to taste
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp corn starch dissolved in 2 tbsp water
• 2 lbs chicken pieces (I used 8 chicken legs)

Mix all the ingredients first in the slow cooker bowl except the chicken and then add the chicken pieces and coat them with the mixture. 

Cook in the slow cooker at high for 4 hours or low for 8.  I cooked mine in an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker at slow cooker setting for 2 hours.

Serve with rice and steamed vegetables.