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BRAZILLIAN CURRIED CHICKEN SALAD

The Brazilian Kitchen
by Leticia Moreinos Schwartz

Salada de Galinha ao Curry com Amendoas e Passas
Chicken salad is an American staple and a Brazilian one, too. This salad is among the most flavorful approaches to the classic that you'll find, whether you use leftover chicken or with meat cooked just for this purpose. The presence of almonds, raisins, and cooked onion with curry and turmeric adds both crunchy and sweet elements to the chicken salad. It makes a great buffet dish or a small lunch served with a green salad on the side, and it's quite easy to prepare. Although you can make this recipe in just half an hour, it tastes even better the next day. I have been making this dish for about 15 years and I still get asked for the recipe every time I make it.
Makes 2 to 4 Servings

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon curry
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/3 cup almonds, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken (light and dark meat)
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley'
• 1 tablespoon store-bought balsamic vinaigrette
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook the raisins in the wine in a small saucepan over low heat, just until they are soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the raisins and any remaining wine to a bowl, let cool, then set aside.

2. In another small saute pan over low heat, cook the olive oil and onion, stirring occasionally, un- til soft and translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic, curry, and turmeric and continue stirring and cooking until they are hot, about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and cook at a low sim- mer, letting it reduce by 80 percent, about 5 minutes. Be sure not to let the onion dry out.
While still wet, transfer the curried onion to a plate and let cool to room temperature.

3. In a big bowl, mix the raisins, curried onion, almonds, chicken, mayonnaise, parsley, and balsamic vinaigrette. Mix everything well until the salad is well blended.

4. Season with salt and pepper. At this point you can either serve this immediately or store in an airtight plastic container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.