Crock Pot Coconut Chicken Curry with Homemade Garlic Naan

I love cooking with the Crock Pot. It's like having a personal chef for one easy payment of $24.99! So last night I gathered my ingredients did some chopping and cutting and within 30 minutes my Crock Pot was in the refrigerator ready to be slow cooked to an amazing dinner!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2lbs of skinless boneless chicken breast, trimmed and cut into cubes

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 medium onion, diced 

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

1 13.5 oz can of coconut milk

1 cup chicken broth

3-4 tbsp curry powder (based on taste)

1 tsp of cumin

1/2 tsp of kosher salt

1/2 tsp of coarse ground black pepper

1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tbsp of cornstarch

Directions:

1. Place chicken, potatoes and onion in the Crock Pot. Add garlic, curry powder, cumin, salt and black pepper. Stir until mean and potatoes are coated.
2. If you are preparing the night before, it is now time to put this in the refrigerator overnight. If you are ready get cooking now, let's get going to the next step now...
3. Add coconut milk and chicken broth and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
4. Shred chicken with a fork, but be careful not to mash the potatoes! (You can skip this step if you want your chicken to remain cubed or you are nervous about mashed potato curry!)
5. Add red bell pepper to the Crock Pot and cook for thirty minutes. 
6. Stir in cornstarch to thicken. Let cook for about 15 more minutes.
7. Serve over basmati rice with naan (Want to know how to make homemade naan? I know you do...read on.)

Sure you could go to your local grocery store and buy a package that contains two pieces of naan for $2.99...or you could follow this recipe and have 12 pieces that you made! I think the decision is clear...

Ingredients:

1 package of active dry yeast
1 cup of hot water (about 120º)
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tbsp of milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups of flour (can use all purpose or bread flour)
1/2 tsp of baking soda
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of butter

Directions:

1. Combine 1tbsp of sugar with hot water (about 120º) sprinkle the packet of yeast on top of the hot water and let sit for about 5-8 minutes until it is frothy. 
2. Add sugar, salt, milk, baking soda and egg to the yeast and water.
3. Slowly add the flour until a soft dough forms. Knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes.
4. Place in a greased bowl in a warm place and cover with a towel. Let rise for 1-2 hours.
5. After the dough has doubled in size, pull apart and make 12-14 evenly sized balls (about the size of a golfball.) Knead garlic into each ball. Place these on a baking sheet and allow to rest for about 30 minutes. 
6. Place your oven rack at the top or one row down from the top of the oven. If you are using a pizza stone (what I use and recommend, however you can use a cookie sheet but do not preheat the oven with this) place it on the rack and preheat the oven using the broil setting on High.
7. While the oven is preheating...combine the butter and 1 minced clove of garlic. Melt in the microwave or over the stove. 
8. Roll each ball flat using a rolling pin on a floured surface. I suggest rolling all of the dough out before cooking, because things get fast from here. 
9. Once the oven is hot, pour some oil on the stone and place 1-2 (I do not do more because like I said, things go fast!) pieces of dough on stone brushing them with the butter mixture. Push the rack under the grill, but do not close the oven! Closely watch the dough. It will bubble up and when it is slightly browned, flip and brush the other side with garlic butter. Once this side begins to brown take out of the oven. This step only takes about 1-2 minutes per side.
10. Repeat until you have cooked all the dough.
11. Enjoy with your favorite Indian dish, make into naan pizza, with hummus, or enjoy as is. 

Do not close the oven,or you'll end up with this!

And someone will have to eat it, burnt edges and all!

For some reason when I made this tonight, the dough did not rise. It could be the lack of heat in our 55º home. This created a very dense, pita like bread. Still good, but not naan-like. I have used this recipe before and did not have this problem and it tasted very much like naan. Can't win 'em all, I suppose! Enjoy!