Donna Deane's Curried Chicken Salad on Naan

Subpar curried chicken salads have practically become a bad dining cliche. Texturally questionable meat, possibly some raisins (truly a horror), all bound up in loathsome mayonnaise and then folded into a cold, inflexible flatbread wrap (tomato-flavored! or perhaps spinach, for health. Am I the only person on this planet who thinks those things should be abolished forever?). What you're left with is a gloopy, chewy nightmare of a lunch. Just thinking about it makes me a little queasy.

So why would I even entertain the thought of making something like that for dinner?

I'll tell you: the L.A. Times Encore feature. I'm totally in love. The editors find older recipes in the archives and put them back online for a repeat. Something about being featured a second time convinces me that the recipe must have really been good, that it's important I pay attention this time around, and not dismiss something as grody as a curried chicken salad sandwich with a wrinkled nose and an impatient click of the mouse. Would Donna Deane lead me astray, twice? I should think not.

So after cuddling a delicious little baby for a few hours after work, I headed to the grocery store, head awash in a fog of happy hormones (what is it about those little feet and fuzzy heads?), and bought chicken legs, lemon grass, fresh naan (now available at Whole Foods!) and limes. A promising start to the meal, I thought. At home, chicken legs poached in boxed chicken stock doctored up with chopped lemon grass, while I stirred together plain Liberte yogurt with lime zest, juice and curry powder, and tiny dice of red pepper, celery and scallions.

When the chicken had cooled, I pulled the meat off the bones, folded it into the tangy yogurt sauce and piled the salad onto the warmed naan. A few chopped peanuts went on top (I eschewed the cilantro, oh, and the sliced lime for garnish - it was a plain old weeknight, after all) and the soft, warm naan rolled easily around the cool, faintly spicy filling. It was a bit of a mess to eat, but the pillowy bread was a lovely counterpoint to the silken salad and the occasional crunch of peanut or pepper. Ben ate two of the sandwiches, stopping only to say happily, "this is exactly what I wanted for dinner".

Sometimes, satisfaction comes so easily.

Curried Chicken Salad on Naan
Serves 4

2 whole chicken legs, about 1 3/4 pounds
4 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup chopped lemon grass
8 ounces low-fat plain yogurt
2 teaspoons chopped lime zest
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup diced celery
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro plus 8 whole sprigs
1 teaspoon salt
4 pieces naan
1/4 cup chopped salted peanuts
1 lime cut into wedges for garnish

1. Place chicken legs, chicken stock and chopped lemon grass in a medium saucepan. Bring the stock to a gentle simmer over low heat. Poach the chicken for 30 to 40 minutes until cooked through. Remove from the stock and cool. Remove the skin and bones and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces.

2. While the chicken is cooking, stir together the yogurt, lime zest, lime juice and curry powder. Add the green onions, red pepper, celery, chopped cilantro and salt. Gently stir in the shredded chicken.

3. Place the naan in a 350-degree oven on the rack and heat until warm but still flexible, 1 to 2 minutes. Do not allow it to crisp.

4. Place each piece of naan on a plate and spoon one-half cup of chicken salad on top. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon chopped peanuts and lay 2 sprigs cilantro on top, extending out the sides. Roll the naan around the filling.

Comments

[Lydia]

That sounds like exactly what I'd like for dinner, too! Just bought a lovely lemongrass plant for my herb garden, so I can look forward to dishes like this all summer.

[Marce]

That´s weird, I just made home-made naan for the first time last night so I started laughing when I saw this post. They are delicious, with anything really, though I had mine with my mom´s meat and lentil stew (fall does have its perks after all.)

[Molly]

Oh YES! I'm so with you on curried chicken salads. They could be delicious, but more often are heinous. I love the idea of this one, though, with yogurt and lemongrass and lime. Do have an eye for a good recipe, my friend. xo

[Mary]

I so agree about those sandwiches - who would actually look at a menu and say, oh, I want a wrap? Yuck. This, however, looks great. If only I could get take out naan where I live. If I make it from scratch, it's part of an Indian food fest. Maybe I could hide some for leftovers and turn the tandoori chicken into this the next day (there's always chicken but never naan left). Baby toes are the best!

[susan]

this is EXACTLY what i want right now! yumm. i haven't made curried chicken salad in a while but your post is strongly motivating me.

[Leah]

Yum! I love homemade curried chicken salad. This one sounds lovely. It's definitely fancier than the slapdash easypeasy one I usually make, which is a recipe my mom made up. It involves, depending on the mood, celery, almond pieces, granny smith apples, or sometimes little mandarin orange bits. The only reason I don't make it very often is that I end up eating the entire batch by the time the day is over...

[aileen]

I can confess. I love chicken salad. But I eat it rarely. I am wary of losing this affection to bad experiences. And I too would be staunchly adamant about not testing that love against raisins. Fruit and mayonnaise is not a combination I think I am capable of embracing. But this - This sounds delicious! I find myself really enamoured these days with the combination of yogurt and lime (which I learned from surfing makes an unbelievably delicious potato salad too). Add cilantro and some crunch, and I swoon. Hence, your post has resulted in two new activities on my do promptly list: (i) buy lemongrass when I go into "town" tonight, and (ii) add the L.A. Times Encore to my Wednesday surfing list. Thank you, Luisa!

[Snoskred]

Hi, it's Snoskred here. I found you via Nablopomo last year. I'm just dropping by to let you know that I read your blog with google reader whenever you update, and that I enjoy your blog. I'm re-doing my links on my blog, and I have linked to you in the sidebar.

I always look forward to your posts, and the food pics mmmmmmm!

[Mercedes]

So glad you're posting, I thought we'd lost you. Agreed on the LATimes Encore feature, it's great, and I love that it's a little glimpse into something that might've been trendy or new several years ago.

[Luisa]

Lydia - lemon grass? In your own garden? My mind has just blown with the possibilities (and the envy).

Marce - homemade naan! I am super impressed. I've been meaning to bake those myself sometime soon. Better get on it before it's too hot for baking again.

Molly - great tastebuds think alike ;)

Mary - maybe you should bake a big batch from scratch and freeze them so you've got wrap material for future sandwich rollings?

Susan - well! I'm glad to hear it.

Leah - I'm going to have to take your word for it because, I have to be honest, the thought of mandarin orange pieces in chicken salad is sort of squicking me out... Chacun son gout! ;)

Aileen - my pleasure! And do tell me more about this potato salad with yogurt and lime - that sounds intriguing.

Snoskred - thank you so much - I'm glad you're enjoying the site!

Mercedes - lost me? No way! Life's just been getting in the way.

[Lisa (Homesick Texan)]

Raisins? Blech! Whenever I see them lurking in food where they don't belong, I think of Lane's mom in "Better off Dead:" "It's got raisins in it, you like raisins." Um, noooooo I don't. But this sounds lovely, and I'd probably eat two myself!

[Anne]

This seems like a pretty easy dinner to make too. I wonder if the chicken salad gets better after a day in the fridge? Sounds too good to wait and find out.

PS: I love fruit in salads. I know, I'm weird.

[Dana]

I'm with Anne...I like fruit and/or raisins in chicken salad! Not always -- and not an overabundance -- but sometimes it works. That said, this looks delicious!

[Melissa]

What a great idea - eating chicken salad on naan is absolutely inspired! A popular sandwich filling here is something called 'coronation chicken' (it dates from QEII's coronation in 1953!!) and it's a frightening sight: curry powder, mayonnaise, cream, raisins, apricot jam... Yikes. I'd take yogurt, lemongrass and peanuts over that any day!

[Claire]

Sounds absolutely delightful - my mouth is watering. The discovery of both fresh and frozen naan from Whole Foods has been wonderful, and now I have even more reason to go buy some. Thanks!

[Nancy]

Another reason to subscribe to the LA Times. I love curried chicken salad and can't wait to try this recipe.

[Luisa]

Lisa - raisins are funny like that. Where they don't belong, they DO NOT belong. Where they do belong, they really BELONG. Huh.

Anne - weird, indeed! The only fruit in my salads is the tomato :) As for waiting a day - I wouldn't, but I'm funny like that with leftover poultry. Unless it's roasted. In which case, next day consumption is fine, almost preferable! Confusing, I know.

Melissa - coronation chicken is indeed a terrifying prospect. Though, to be honest, aren't most English sandwiches? I never did warm to Pret a Manger (though their yogurt smoothies were an entirely different story - yum).

Claire - isn't that exciting? We ate our leftover piece last night, warmed in the oven, as an appetizer while our dinner popped away in the broiler. It was so good. Though, now I'm sort of inspired to make my own. We'll see how that goes.

Nancy - I couldn't agree with you more. Hope you like the chicken salad!

[askann@yahoo.com]

Do you just throw out the poaching liquid when you're done? Any ideas for uses?