Chicken Country Captain

Adapted from The Joy of Cooking (1964)

Serves 6

When I got engaged at nineteen, a college friend gave me the 1964 edition of The Joy of Cooking—my first cookbook. It was one of the first recipes I made from it, and I have been making it ever since.

In that edition, the book says:

This dish has become a favorite in America, although it probably got its name not from the sea captain who brought the recipe back to our shores, but from the Indian officer who first made him acquainted with it. So says Cecily Brownstone, a great friend; and this is her time-tested formula.

This is very much my version of it.

2 whole boneless chicken breasts
½ cup flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill white rice flour—not sweet), seasoned with salt, pepper, and sweet paprika
1 onion, about the size of a small teacup, diced
1 large green pepper, cut slightly larger than dice
2 stalks celery, sliced thinly on the diagonal
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 cups tomato sauce (tomato passata or 1 (400 g) can San Marzano tomatoes, put through a food mill)
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ cup butter or neutral oil
3 tablespoons currants or raisins
Blue Diamond roasted, salted almonds, coarsely chopped, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces using kitchen shears. Coat the pieces in the seasoned flour and set aside.

In a sauté pan, brown the chicken pieces in the butter (especially delicious) or a neutral oil. As they brown, remove them and set aside.

Add the onion to the pan and cook until it wilts and just begins to turn pale gold. Add the green pepper and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the celery and cook for another minute. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Stir in the curry powder and cook for about 1 minute to bloom the flavor.

Add the tomato sauce and thyme, stirring to deglaze the pan. Bring just to a boil, then reduce the heat. Add salt carefully (remember the chicken was coated in seasoned flour).

If your sauté pan is large enough to hold everything and is oven-safe with a lid, return the chicken to the pan and cover. Otherwise, transfer everything to a covered casserole or Dutch oven.

Bake for about 30 minutes. Add the currants or raisins during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Just before serving, sprinkle the chopped almonds over the top.

I serve this with basmati rice, mango chutney, and pappadams (when I can get my hands on them), which I cook in hot oil until they puff up.

A Favorite Cury Powder

Pappadams