Lime Coconut Chicken Curry with Mangoes

Lime Coconut Chicken Curry with Mangoes is a healthy, fast dish that makes the most of seasonal citrus and mangoes, while brightening up a winter day. Affiliate links have been used to link to items I am discussing.

This past fall two interesting citrus cookbooks were released. Being the huge citrus freak that I am, I bought both–but knowing it was not remotely citrus season, I also set both aside to wait for winter–did not even open them. And yes I thought it was a weird decision by the publishers to release them in the fall–I guess in time for Christmas shopping? But anyway!

I found the basis of this recipe in Valerie Aikman-Smith’s and Victoria Pearson’s Citrus: Sweet and Savory Sun-Kissed Recipes. I started with this book, because this one has more savory dishes (although certainly not only savory), whereas the other book is an overwhelming majority sweet and baked goods. And I was looking for dinner. Needless to say I want to make nearly everything in this book (heck probably both books). And in Citrus the book is divided by kind of citrus, so more than anything else, I want to make everything in the lime and lemon chapters. Grapefruit has never done much for me, and sometimes (not often!) orange can be too sweet. But as far as I am concerned, lemons and limes make everything better.

So about this Lime Coconut Chicken Curry with Mangoes. In the book it is a very basic Caribbean inspired curry with chicken only. As many of you know, I am a big believer in one pot meals, so I immediately wanted to add some veggies–without going shopping (i.e., using what I already had around). At first I thought cauliflower was maybe an odd choice, given that I never see cauliflower in Caribbean recipes. But then I decided potatoes would work just fine in this recipe– and anywhere potatoes work, I think cauliflower can work. As far as the mango, lately we have been buying a lot of mangoes and adding them wherever we feel inspired (in other words, you can expect to continue seeing mango in the future on this site). I thought about all of that lime and figured the mango would complement it beautifully–much like in my similarly flavored Coconut Lime Mango Muffins. And just like in those muffins, it worked wonderfully.

Everyone loved this dish. So much so that it turned into another tale of woe, for this blogger, when John and the kids thought I had eaten dinner (it was a crazy night with kids’ activities and we were enjoying the leftovers) and they finished the entire dish! I went to get my serving and the pot had been scraped clean! John thought I had eaten before taking Sammy to basketball practice when, alas for me, I had not. So Lime Coconut Chicken Curry with Mangoes definitely comes with the family stamp of approval. Harrumph.

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Lime Coconut Chicken Curry with Mangoes

This recipe requires marinating the chicken, so plan to start the night before or the morning of, although it goes quite quickly after marinating. Adapted from Valerie Aikman-Smith.

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Caribbean

Author: TheSpicedLife

Ingredients

• 4 T melted coconut oil, divided
• zest of 2 limes
• juice of 3 limes, divided
• 2 T curry powder
• 1 t paprika-- you can sub cayenne if you like heat
• 1 t New Mexico chile powder-- you can sub cayenne if you like heat
• salt to taste
• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 T minced ginger
• 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small head cauliflower cut into florets
• mango chunks from 3 large mangoes
• 1 14-16 oz can coconut milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves

Instructions

1. Whisk together 2 tablespoons of the coconut oil, lime zest, juice from 2 limes, curry powder, chile powders, and a pinch of sea salt. Place the chicken pieces in a large sealable bag and add the whisked marinade. Massage the marinade into the chicken and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
2. When you are ready to cook, remove the chicken from the fridge so it can start warming up a bit.
3. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a heavy bottomed pot such as a Dutch oven. Shake the marinade off of the chicken (but reserve the marinade) and add it to the pan to brown.
4. Brown the chicken on both sides, about 5 minutes per side, in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding the pan.
5. Remove the chicken to a bowl and add the onion to the pan. Stir and add a pinch of salt. Let the onion brown for 2-3 minutes and then add the garlic and ginger. Stir.
6. Add the cauliflower to the pan with a pinch of salt and toss. Then add the chicken, its accumulated juices and the reserved marinade back to the pan with the coconut milk. Stir to blend. Stir in the coconut flakes and bring to a boil.
7. Cover the pot and reduce to heat to a gentle simmer. Let simmer for 15 minutes.
8. Check to see that the chicken has cooked through and the cauliflower is crisp tender. If not, cover and simmer another 5 minutes.
9. When it has cooked through, add the juice of 1 lime as well as the mangoes. Stir. Taste for salt. Stir in the cilantro leaves.
10. Garnish with more coconut flakes. Serve with rice or flatbread.

Recipe Notes

Need help slicing the mangoes? My Cuban Stir Fry with Mango describes how I do it!

For the collage lovers…