Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Julia Child's Sauce au Cari - Light Curry with Chicken

Julia Child’s Sauce au Cari or Light Curry Sauce (with chicken)
From Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
½ cup white or yellow onion, finely minced
4 tbsp butter
2-3 tbsp curry powder
4 tbsp flour
2 cups boiling milk, white stock or fish stock (I used milk)
2 cups cooked chicken, cut in cubes (my addition)
4-6 tbsp whipping cream
Salt & pepper
Lemon juice
1-2 tbsp softened butter
1-2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped (optional)

Directions:
1. Cook the onions slowly in butter and oil in a medium saucepan over low heat for 10 minutes without allowing the onions to color.

2. Stir in curry powder and cook slowly for 2 minutes. Add the flour and stir over low heat for 3 minutes.

3. Take the pot off the heat and blend in the boiling liquid (and add the chicken). Return the sauce to heat and simmer slowly for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Stir in the cream by tablespoons, until the sauce has thinned to the consistency you wish. Check seasoning and add lemon juice to taste.

5. Off the heat, just before serving, stir in the butter by bits and then parsley.

Serve immediately. I ladled it over steamed rice and found the dish very bland – good thing we had some hot Indian pickles.

3 comments:

Chef Jeena said...

I love the colour of your curry, very tasty indeed. :-)

Anonymous said...

Ruth,

As usual, your post is incredible, mine pale in comparison. I'm surprised how thick this recipe is coming out for all of us, I know they (Julia, et al,) worked these recipes over and over again. I wonder if the flour they had in 1960 had less protein in it?

Anyway - great job!

Anonymous said...

I've made this recipe many times now. My trick is to use a little more milk and cream than the recipe suggests to thin it out. I also add a good amount of salt (and I usually don't cook with much salt) to bring out the flavor of the curry. I would also suggest using a high quality curry. You can find different flavors at Williams and Sanoma or similar stores.