Chicken Curry Soup

Continuing on the theme of what to eat in September, this is a recipe for chicken curry soup. In the past my efforts with curry soup have struggled to find the right balance of creaminess without becoming too heavy. I think this one nailed it. The easier way to do this is to start with stock and cooked chicken, but I made it from scratch and decided to write it this way

One whole chicken cut into pieces, skin removed

one celery rib, one large carrot, and 1/2 onion for stock

bay leaves and peppercorns for stock

14 cups water

1+ lb small, waxy potatoes, diced

1, one inch piece of ginger, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 large carrots, diced

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 rib celery, diced

olive oil
Madras curry powder (mine is Penzey's, labeled as hot)
One can cocunut juice (Jugo de coco, found this at the mexican market actually)
soy sauce
salt
pepper
1 and 1/2 cups uncooked basmati rice
cilantro, basil (thair or, and mint, all thinly sliced
bean sprouts
1 lime cut into eigths
sriracha or other chili sauce if desired

creme fraiche*

*optional, can substitute 1/2 cup of heavy cream, but the recipe for creme fraiche is below

Equipment: two large pots and a blender (traditional or stick/immersion)

I start with a fresh chicken and cut it into pieces, then remove the skin, then add them to the water in a large stockpot
Bring this to a boil, adding the carrot, celery, onion, about 5-10 peppercorns, 2 tbsp soy sauce, and 3 bay leaves
Once at a rolling boil reduce heat to the point of a low boil
Cook at low boil for about 35 minutes
While the chicken and stock are going, make your rice; set aside
Remove chicken to a plate to cool, strain stock discarding everything else
Stock should now be at about 10 cups, if not continue to reduce until it is about 10 cups; if you have reduced too far you can add water, but you can also just use what you have;
In a separate soup pot or large dutch oven, heat about 1.5 tablespoon olive oil on medium heat
Saute one carrot, onion, celery and garlic for about 5 minutes over medium heat, adding garlic for last minute
Add ginger, and sprinkle mixture with a large scoop, about 1.5 tbsp of curry powder
Stir and cook to integrate curry powder with the oil and vegetable mix, about 1-2 minutes
Add the entire can of coconut juice, 2 cups stock, and 1/3 of cooked rice, then blend until completely smooth with immersion blender, or, if using traditional blender, remove from heat and allow to cool before blending
(Note, if you blend this while still warm in a traditional blender be SURE to cover the top with a thick kitchen towel and hold the lid down, as blending hot liquids can cause dangerous blowouts! Seriously, I've had this happen and it is not good!)
Once blended, return to heat and mix in stock, bring mixture back to simmer
Add potatoes and remaining carrot and boil for 20 minutes, or until vegetables reach desired consistency
While vegetables cook, shred your chicken to desired size (i.e. nickel to quarter size) discarding bones
Once vegetables are done, taste mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper
Serve scoops of the remaining rice, and garnish with fresh sliced herbs, bean sprouts, and a wedge of lime, and hot sauce on side

We thought this was great. I did have to dilute mine down a bit more than desired because the original batch was too hot for Harper, who is 1. You may want to tweak the sauce to your own spice level by adding more or less stock to the blended mixture, or by adjusting your use of curry powder and/or sriracha

A word on creme fraiche. I was always very frustrated to see recipes call for this ingredient when it is not widely available here in the US. Well, it is available, but it is costly and somewhat hard to find, though I've recently seen it at one of my local grocery store chains. It's a shame, because it is a really good ingredient and somewhat difficult to substitute for in recipes. It mixes into hot recipes better than its more acidic relative sour cream, and it has more zing and flavor nuance than heavy cream. Here is an easy way to make it:

Heavy Cream - you can just buy any size container of heavy whipping cream at the store, I used a pint. It is advised to avoid those labeled as "ultra-pasteurized" if possible
2 tbsp yogurt or buttermilk - buttermilk is said to be superior for this, but I always have yogurt on hand so I use that instead

Add buttermilk or yogurt to cream in a sufficiently large sealable container like a mason jar or tupperware
Partly cover, but do not seal, and set on countertop or other surface at room temperature
Allow to sit for 16-24 hours at room temperature; I seal it after about 6-8 though just for peace of mind
Refrigerate.

That's it, simple as that. It's actually pretty amazing how easy it is to make a lot of dairy products once you get down to actually doing it

PS - this stuff is probably at its best on fresh fruit like berries with a dust of powder sugar and maybe a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Enjoy!

PPS - sorry for the poor image, macs have spoiled me for image editing and I've forgotten how to work on the PC