thai chicken curry enchiladas

Thai Chicken Curry Enchiladas? Huh?

Thai Chicken Curry Enchiladas. Is there such a thing? Sounds like a case of flavor clashing? I love to cook. Love to experiment with food, flavors and seasoning. Mainly because I love to eat. So cooking is fun for me. Cooking for me and my husband, that is. If I had to cook for fifty, that would be a job and it will take ALL the fun out of it. But cooking for just me and hubby, there is room for creations and accidental delectable discoveries. And this just happened recently. Oh my goodness. Had to share this because I felt the world just needed to know.

The intent was chicken enchiladas

I had intended to make chicken enchiladas but without the flour tortillas. I wanted to cook the chicken with a can of enchilada sauce (the green one) along with some veggies. I chopped up some eggplant, green beans, and zucchinis. I chopped up some chicken thigh meat. I thought if I could not make enchiladas because I had no flour tortillas at home, then maybe I could make a chicken enchilada stew with vegetables instead. And just serve it with rice on the side. But I definitely was not trying to make thai chicken curry enchiladas.

Let the production begin

Normally, when I make chicken enchiladas, I would add sour cream or heavy whipping cream with my enchilada sauce. What this does is dilute the saltiness of the enchilada sauce and at the same time make the sauce creamy. Enchilada sauce right out of the can is very salty, but packed with so much flavor. I had a medium size can and so decided to use just half. But that day, I had no sour cream or heavy whipping cream in my frig. Shucks, what was I to do? Lo and behold, I found a can of coconut milk in my cabinet. I thought this ought to do.

An invention of a new dish began

After I cooked the chicken and the veggies in my enchilada sauce with coconut milk, it started to look like Thai chicken curry. When I tasted the sauce, it tasted like Thai chicken but without the curry flavor. So I proceeded to add a little curry powder that I had on my shelf. After mixing the powder into my chicken stew, I tried the sauce again and guess what? It tasted like Thai Chicken Curry. It was so yummy.

When I served it to my husband, I said nothing about my cooking process. I wanted to see what he thought he was eating. He took a taste and said “wow, this is really good Thai chicken curry. How did you make this?” And I said “with enchilada sauce and coconut milk. Do you like it?’ He said emphatically, “Yes, can you make this dish again?” And I said “of course. I just need enchilada sauce.” And thus, a new culinary creation has been invented: Thai Chicken Curry Enchilada.

So remember, one way to make Thai Chicken Curry Enchiladas is to use the green enchilada sauce with coconut milk and add just a little curry powder for the curry flavor. You will be so surprise how your chicken curry comes out. We ate ours with a small bowl of poi on the side. In Hawaii, poi is like a starch in place of rice or potatoes. It is made with taro and looks like a taro paste. I ate mine with some of that curry sauce and it was so delicious.