Food and Garden Dailies started as a way to record my family's favorite recipes. It has come in handy many times when I'm asked for a recipe. I simply email a link to the blog! But I couldn't just stick to recipes. The kitchen is tied to the garden in so many ways...and so I let you into my ever changing garden as well.

If you're interested in my all-time favorite recipes, check out this post first: My Favorite Recipes

Monday, September 17, 2007

Cajun Curry Chicken

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I found this recipe from a magazine many years ago. I wish I could remember which one, but back then I just clipped the recipe, not keeping track of the source. Anyway, it's been a favorite of ours for a long time because 1) it's quite tasty, 2) it's very easy, 3) the sauce freezes beautifully, and 4) I usually have the ingredients on hand.

You can make it as spicy as you'd like, depending on how much cajun/curry seasonings you add.

Cajun Curry Chicken (Better Homes & Gardens)*

Mix the ingredients in a baking dish. Add the chicken pieces, and mix so they are all covered by the sauce.

1/3 C honey
3 TB water
3 TB dijon mustard
2 TB margarine
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

Bake uncovered at 350 for about 30 minutes. Serve chicken and sauce over hot cooked rice.


Note: This sauce freezes well. If you like REALLY spicy foods, you can add up to 1 more tsp of Cajun seasoning and up to 1 more tsp of curry powder.

I've frozen the sauce separately, and with the chicken. Both work fine!

Sometimes I add chunks of red, yellow, orange, and green peppers to the pan. Onions are a good addition as well. When peppers are on sale at the end of the summer, I stock up on them. I store them chopped in the freezer. They're not good fresh (they get mushy), but taste just fine in cooked recipes like this one, or in a stir fry.

*Added on 9/23/07: Thanks to Kathy who clued me in to the source for this recipe!!

13 comments:

Stacy said...

I think I will be making this one for dinner tonight! Thanks Dayna!

dg said...

I hope you like it! I even make it with tofu for Katie, as she's been a vegetarian for a year now.

Unknown said...

This recipe has been a family favorite in my house for years. We probably got it from the same place -- it was a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens. They had a monthly section where you could tear out reader-submitted recipes. Does that sound familiar? I'm making it tonight, but have just moved so I can't find my copy of the recipe. Thank goodness I found yours!

dg said...

Thank you, Kathy! That is probably the source of my recipe, as I've bought/subscribed to that off and on over the years.

I still have the actual clipping of my recipe...taped to a card in my recipe box.

The original recipe calls for 3 tsp. each of cajun and curry spices. I like spicy/hot foods, but found that 2 tsp of each was more to my liking.

Thanks again for letting me know the source!

Unknown said...

Yes, I remembered that I usually use a tablespoon each of the spices, depending on who was home for dinner, and whether I thought I could get away with a bolder flavor. I have prepared this so many times, I should think I would know the ingredients/quantities from memory, but I still like having the recipe to consult.

Somewhere along the line, I switched to regular yellow mustard, too. What cajun spice do you use? I settled on the Paul Prudhomme poultry seasoning, but may experiment if you can recommend something else.

dg said...

I've always used Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning. It's a staple that I always have on hand. For mustard, I've never tried plain, but would in a pinch if we were out of dijon. My husband likes dijon for sandwiches, so that's usually available.

You, know...I'm going to have to try taking a new photo of this next time I make it. It doesn't look all that appetizing!

dg said...

I just got out my recipe card. It's actually called "Curry-Cajun Spiced Chicken." I guess over the years I've changed it unknowingly to Cajun Curry Chicken.

The nutrition facts were also given for 1 chicken breast half with 1/2 cup rice:

438 calories
11 g fat (2 g saturated)
89 mg cholesterol
389 mg sodium
47 g carbohydrates
1 g fiber
35 g protein

Daily value: 12% vitamin A, 2% vitamin C, 4% calcium, 19% iron

Unknown said...

I'll have to try Tony Chachere's seasoning the next time I'm near the spice aisle. I can see it now... my son will come home from college for the holidays, and he'll notice right away that I've changed the ingredients! A few years ago I made this to take to my office for a pot luck lunch. Of course serving chicken breast halves to lots of people wouldn't work, so instead I cut the chicken into large strips (after baking). Afterwards, I realized that cutting the breast into smaller pieces gave more chicken "surfaces" for the sauce to touch. So I have prepared it that way at home too, and everyone liked it even more.

KathyJB said...

I should have bookmarked or printed the recipe. Tonight I decided to fix this for dinner for myself (I am on my own until hubby/professional Santa comes home from his job in S. Florida). I found a recipe laying around that I had printed apparently from somewhere else. I must be losing my mind because I had handwritten on it - 3 TABLESPOONS of cajun seasoning, which had been omitted from the recipe. And I correspondingly used the same amount of curry. UGH. I just took it out of the oven and wondered why the sauce was so dark and a bit on the un-liquidy side. I hope it's not inedible. Printing your recipe NOW and tossing the other in the trash. I kept thinking something was wrong, and now I know what it was.

dg said...

KathyJN...so sorry! It will probably be waaaaayyy too spicy. I like things pretty spicy and know that would be over the edge for me.

Maybe you could try toning down what you have with some honey. I'd try that before tossing it.

KathyJB said...

Well, only the old recipe got tossed - not the chicken. It was not too bad as long as I didn't spoon any extra sauce on the chicken or the rice, which is what we usually do. It was too thick to do much spooning anyway. But a tiny finger-dip into the sauce and some finger-licking tells me how strong it really was. I should have trusted my gut when I thought something wasn't right while I was preparing. For a dish that I have made so often, I should have known better. I think I got muddled with the 3 tablespoons of mustard. Anyway, thank goodness I'm the only one home to eat it.

Anonymous said...

I can't thank you enough for posting this recipe. I also clipped it many yrs ago and after we moved I went to make it for a big dinner party. No recipe to be found. Thanks for saving my hinny!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this recipe. I lost my copy of it. It is one of my favorite comfort foods especially when it gets colder out. Dinner tonight definitely. Thanks.