Detox Day 4 (Thursday Recap)

I love Indian food. While I was pregnant, anything with strong spices (even basil) made me sick. So as soon as the nausea was gone, I couldn't wait to indulge again! This recipe comes from another Williams Sonoma Cookbook- The World Kitchen. Side note, I am a bit of a cookbook addict...Anyways, to make this recipe 'detox acceptable,' it did have to be adjusted a bit. This is a great example of how you can take a favourite recipe and adjust it to make it a healthier version or at least to exclude foods that give you issues!

Chicken Korma 

3 tbsp coconut oil 

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

2 inch piece of ginger, grated

2 inch cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp EACH ground coriander and ground turmeric

1/2 tsp EACH cayenne pepper and ground cumin

1 1/2 cup stock

1 cup passata/strained tomatoes

1 tbsp honey

salt

2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup unsalted, raw cashews

In a dutch oven warm oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until it begins to soften, about 3 min. Add the garlic, ginger, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, coriander, turmeric, cayenne and cumin and saute until spices are fragrant and evenly coat the onion, about 1 min. Stir in the stock, passata, honey and 1 tsp salt, bring to a boil and deglaze pot. Add the chicken strips and stir to coat evenly. Partially cover pot and cook over low heat until chicken is very tender and sauce is thickened, about an hour.

About 15 min before the chicken is done, combine coconut milk and cashews in a blender and process until nuts are finely pureed and combined with the coconut milk (I let this sit for a few minutes to thicken). Add the nut mixture to the chicken mixture and stir to blend with the sauce. Continue cooking until the sauce is completely heated through and thick, about 5 min. Remove and discard bay leaves and cinnamon stick.

The original recipe used canola oil, buttermilk, tomato sauce and sugar. Canola oil is a highly processed oil which can have many health implications many of which are becoming more and more well known and mainstream, you can read more here. Buttermilk is exchanged for coconut milk to make it dairy free. Passata is exchanged for tomato sauce mainly to avoid any additives and avoid cans since passata comes in a glass jar. It is also considered to be a superior product to canned tomatoes. Sugar is exchanged for raw, unpasteurized honey. Regular white sugar is one of the most common GMO foods and is highly processed.

Again, this is a hit with the whole family. I serve it up with a mix of brown rice and quinoa to increase the nutritional value and protein. Add a side of steamed veggies and salad and you have a delicious gluten, dairy and refined sugar free meal!

Disclaimer: Naturopathic Doctors strive to provide individualized health care. The information contained in these topics is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, it is provided for educational purposes only. This information shouldn’t take the place of seeing an ND for individualized health recommendations. 

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