Foodie Friday: Thai Chicken Curry

My husband and I love a good Thai curry meal.  However, most Thai curries are made in coconut milk and contain onion.  So, for quite sometime now I have been attempting to come up with a migraine friendly curry dish that tastes amazing and also has an appealing texture (this has been a little tricky).  See, in my attempts to replace the Coconut milk I learned that not all alternatives yield a creamy texture and some end up looking like a curdled mess.  I will say that despite the weirdness in appearance and texture of my experiments, every batch was devoured on the evening it was created...that is how good the flavor of the seasoning combination is!  I am happy to say that I finally was able to overcome the curdling mess and create a recipe that was appealing in both flavor and appearance.  So, here is how I prepared the final experiment in Thai Curry dishes...

Seasoning Combination Ingredients:
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. cumin
a pinch of cloves
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne (you can increase to 1/2 tsp. if you want to up the heat...remember I have children so I stick to 1/4 tsp.)
1/2 tsp. turmeric
**you will combine all of the above ingredients into a small bowl and set aside.

The rest of the Ingredients:
3 large chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
1/4 cup of sliced shallots (onions are a trigger but shallots are not)
1 cup of cut and cleaned green beans
5 cloves of minced garlic
1 Tbsp finely chopped ginger  (1/8 tsp. ground ginger powder is what I ended up using for my last recipe)
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (I used 1 jalapeno due to my "kid factor")
3 Tbsp olive oil for coating the pan
10 oz. of whole milk set out to warm at beginning of preparation (most curries are made with coconut milk and I avoid all things coconut as part of my migraine plan)
15 torn fresh basil leaves
Your favorite rice cooked and ready to soak up the delish flavor (I used jasmine, but brown or white will work just fine).

1.  As I start to prepare this meal, the first thing I do is get the milk poured and set out so that it is not cold when I add it in, but room temperature.

2.  Then I begin cooking the rice, so that it is ready about the same time the curry is ready.

3. I combine the seasoning mixture to set aside.

4. I chop and prep. the chicken, shallots, green beans, garlic, ginger (if fresh), jalapeno, and basil.

5.  Now that everything is prepped, I get out my wok and heat the oil over medium-high heat.  I let the oil get hot and then add the shallots and jalapeños and toss them to coat in the oil. 

6.  I add in the green beans and chicken and toss in the seasoning mixture.

7.  I stir to coat the seasoning and then add in the garlic and ginger.  Once the seasoning is well distributed, I turn the heat down to medium and cover to cook for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked completely through.

8.  When the chicken is completely cooked I remove the pan from the heat and pour in the milk.  When the milk is stirred in, I add in the basil.

9.  I serve the mixture over my rice and eat!

My seven year old son will get seconds of this dish he loves it so much:)  If you have kids, make sure you seed your jalapenos and keep the cayenne at around 1/4 tsp.  My seven year old says it's a little spicy, but like previously reported, he goes back for seconds.  Even better than children liking this dish is that I can enjoy it without worries of an impending migraine.