As a teeny little Kay, I suffered from car sickness. Or is it called motion sickness? Either way, it was so bad my mom had to pick up medication for it every single time we visited my sister, who lives a ways away, like 45 minutes. My big sis—we have 16 years between us.

I simply couldn’t manage the trip without being drugged up. But those pills made me so drowsy, I can’t count the times I ended up at her house, sound asleep on the couch or on the floor in front of the fireplace for most of the afternoon or evening.

The one thing I did manage to chow down upon arrival—relieved that the ride from hell was over—was a huge plate of her curried chicken with leeks poured over steamed white rice. This is such memory lane food to me—I loved the way she cooked this. Probably because it was so different from the way my mom cooked. It was real comfort food. It’s a very simple recipe, no fancy cooking involved. It doesn’t contain butter, or even oil. Just chicken, vegetables and curry. Pure, basic ingredients and flavors, but it’s so good my kiddo usually asks for seconds.

In my world, that counts for something.

Ingredients:

steamed rice
4 chicken legs (and thighs)
1 tbsp curry powder
1 1/2 pound leeks
1 large onion
1 large garlic clove
1 chicken bouillon cube 
flat-leaf parsley
corn starch
pepper
salt


Directions:

Note:

This recipe goes to show you can feed a small army with only a few ingredients. I cooked this for 6 people and there was even some left. I used 4 cups of uncooked rice.

Put the chicken legs in a big pot. And for God’s sake: do not wash your chicken. Want food poising? Be my guest and wash it, but know that you spread bacteria up to a radius of 3 foot onto your work surface cross contaminating everything.

Add the chicken bouillon cube. Pour in water until your chicken legs are almost covered and add 1 slightly heaping tbsp curry powder. Bring the water to a boil and simmer it until the chicken is well done—this will take roughly 45 minutes.

Slice, wash and chop your leeks. Discard the tougher dark-green parts. You can also add some coarsely grated carrot for extra flavor and color if you like.

Give the onion a cut as well and grate the garlic.

I exclusively use Surinamese rice. I grabbed 4 cups uncooked rice and rinsed until the water that came off stayed clear. Put it in my rice cooker, poured in salted water and steamed it.

As soon as those chicken legs are done, transfer them to a plate.

Add the garlic, leeks and onion to the curried chicken stock. Add a little salt, pop the lid on and simmer until the vegetables are done. This will take about 10 minutes.

Pick as much chicken meat off the bones as you can. You could also do this with breasts, but legs have far more flavor.

This step depends on the amount of liquid in your pan and just how thick you want your sauce. I don’t want it too thick, 5 tbsp corn starch did it for me. Put it in a bowl, add some water and stir until it’s smooth.

As soon as the leeks are done you add the chicken pieces. Season with salt and pepper to taste, stir in the corn starch and give the sauce another 5 minutes over low heat.

Finely mince a handful flat-leaf parsley and stir it in right before serving.

Here’s the rice. So light and fluffy.

Somehow it works best if you serve it in a pretty bowl and eat it with a spoon. Gah, this tastes so good! Real comfort food deluxe for rainy days.  

Kay’s Recipe Card

Click here for printable size.