My dear friend Rachel gave me Shauna Niequist’s book Bread and Wine for  my birthday last May. I read a handful of stories, but set it down for another day. Luckily, another friend came up with the idea of making it the focus of a book club early in September, and my Tuesday nights have never been the same.

Bread and Wine is a beautiful collection of stories about hospitality and community, so it is only fitting that we take turns each week opening up our homes and apartments to cook, eat and drink together. Each chapters ends with a recipe, so those recipes make up our weekly meals.

This week, we made the Mango Chicken Curry. I have never cooked curry before, and though it turned out to be delicious, it was a hilarious understanding. About halfway through, we all we sneezing and coughing because of the strong spices. It was like a scene out of a slapstick comedy.

Mango Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicen breasts, cut into small pieces
2-4 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 red onion, copped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cups currants or raisins
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 mango, pitted and diced
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
Cooked rice, if desired

Mix together flour, curry powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Toss chicken breast pieces into the flour mixture.

Add 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil to a pan, and cook chicken on medium-high heat until browned, about 5 minutes on each side. Set aside.

Add additional 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil and cook garlic, red onion, ginger, and red pepper until onion is golden, about 4 minutes. Add chicken back to the pan, lower heat.

Add chicken broth. Cook at a simmer until chicken is tender and broth is reduced by one-fourth. Add currants, tomatoes, and mango, and simmer until heated through.

Off heat, add lime juice, cilantro, basil. Serve over rice. (Serves 6)

This book also has an amazing recipe for Goat Cheese Biscuits, but I’m going to let you buy the book to try it for yourself.