Quartering chickens is one thing I really don’t enjoy doing. Nothing about the process is enjoyable. There’s the paranoia of washing your hands obsessively so not to contaminate anything and of course there’s the visual… unpleasantness. That said, I would do it all over again to have this curried cream of chicken soup. There’s something about having soup in winter that’s just so right. I also love the smell of curry… especially in something homemade.

I based my recipe from a cookbook called the Silver Palate.

Curried cream of chicken soup
5 TBSP margarine
2 cups chopped onions
½ cup diced carrots
2-3 TBSP curry powder
5 cups chicken stock
Handful of cilantro sprigs
1 chicken, 2-3 lbs, quartered — or 4 chicken breasts (easier!)
½ cup brown rice (don’t use instant)
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 cup of 5% cream
10 ounces frozen peas, defrosted

1. Melt the margarine in a pot. Add onions, carrots, curry powder and about a ½ cup of stock. Cook over low heat, covered, until vegetables are just soft.
2. Add the rest of the stock, cilantro, chicken and rice. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat, and cover. Cook at a simmer until chicken is done, about 30 mins.
3. Remove chicken pieces from soup. Let cool. If using whole chicken, remove the meat from the bones and dice it; reserve the meat.
4. Pour the soup through a strainer and transfer the solids to the bowl of a food processor. Add 1 cup of the cooking liquid and process until smooth. Reserve the rest of the liquid.
5. Return pureed soup to the pot and add the cream. Stir in the additional cooking stock.
6. Add diced chicken and defrosted peas and simmer the soup for 15 minutes, or until peas are done. Season to taste with salt and pepper, serve immediately