I have never made curry; I had it one time, at this one place, a long time ago, but I remembered the general flavor. The tang, followed by the zip, followed by the OM NOM NOM NOM. Suffice it to say, Sunday afternoon, I had a hankering for curry.

For those not in the know,

The term curry is now used more broadly, in English, to refer to almost any spiced, sauce-based dishes cooked in various southern and southeastern Asian styles. Though each curry has a specific name, generically any wet side dish made out of vegetables and/or meat is historically referred to as a "curry" - especially the yellow, Indian-inspired powders and sauces with high proportions of turmeric.

Having never made any type of Indian food before, any fear I had was overwhelmed by my general “I’M DOING THIS THING” attitude. Thus, I leapt onto my favorite recipe site, and found one for chicken curry.

For which I had almost all the ingredients.

And I now offer this recipe to you, because 1) it is EASY (do not let the list of spices confuse you), 2) it is DELICIOUS, and 3) because I care so, so very much about you.

NOTE: I had no ginger root, and so used ground ginger. And I had no bay leaf, so nixed that. Oh, and I'm a big wimp, so I left out the cayenne pepper, too. STILL delicious. OH OH and I doubled the amont of chicken, added frozen peas and a can of chickpeas. Served over steamed rice with a green salad on the side.

Indian Chicken Curry II

INGREDIENTS
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until lightly browned. Stir in garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf, ginger, sugar and salt. Continue stirring for 2 minutes. Add chicken pieces, tomato paste, yogurt, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.

2. Remove bay leaf, and stir in lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Simmer 5 more minutes.