Mushroom curry works its magic

By RENEE ENNA
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
On a recent trip to New York, a meal at a small Soho restaurant called Rice starred a mushroom curry with ingredients that seemed wildly contradictory -- we hesitated, but hey, it was vacation. And the gamble paid off: The dish was wonderful.
Because bottled curry sauces are readily available, it seemed like this might be an easy dish to put together. This recipe adds a few additional ingredients, including chicken -- but with so much going on, the meat could easily be omitted for a satisfying vegetarian entree.
Rice offers this dish with a choice of 10 rices. But any rice will work, and because the aim is to make dinner fast, here we use a basmati rice that cooks up in less than 20 minutes.
MENU
Chicken and mushroom curry
Green beans with tomatoes
Pita bread
Almond cookies
Ginger ale or ginger beer
TIPS
More boil-in-a-bag rices are showing up in supermarkets and produce decent, fluffy rice in about 2 minutes.
Buy pre-chopped mushrooms in the produce section.
Quick-cooking couscous could substitute for the rice.
CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM CURRY
1 cup basmati rice
2 chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup each: prepared curry sauce, chopped mushrooms such as portobello, shiitake, porcini
1 bag (2 ounces) slivered almonds
1/2 cup raisins or sweetened dried cranberries
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, optional
Heat a large saucepan of salted water to a boil; add rice. Reduce heat to medium; cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain.
Meanwhile, season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat; brown chicken, about 2 minutes each side. Reduce heat to medium-low; add curry sauce. Cover; cook until chicken is almost done, about 10 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, almonds and raisins. Cover; cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Add rice to ingredients in skillet; heat through. Divide into four bowls. Stir in 1/4 cup of the yogurt and 1/2 tablespoon of the cilantro to each bowl. Season with additional salt, if desired.
Yield: 4 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: 544 calories, 33 percent of calories from fat, 20 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 847 mg cholesterol, 67 g carbohydrates, 26 g protein, 847 mg sodium, 4 g fiber.