Curry Chicken Salad

Funny how a recipe can instantly take you back to a certain time. Curry chicken salad takes me right back to the late 80’s, and our love of all things, The Silver Palate. Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins were culinary rock stars in our home. Their cookbooks were the first I would reach for when looking to make something new. They are still quite loved and incredibly dog-eared in our kitchen. I have not made curry chicken salad for years. The other day, I did. Like so many things in our phone centered world, I looked up lots of other similar recipes from folks. What I came up with was a mix of many as I so often do, while heavily influenced by Shelia, Julee and of course, Ina. Thought this would be the perfect Wine & Dine Wednesday post.

You could easily double or triple this recipe to feed a large group. We had 2 chicken breasts leftover from a rotisserie chicken, and I really wanted to use them up. They fed 4 of us at a shop lunch yesterday. 

In a large bowl make the sauce. Add two heaping large spoonfuls of mayonnaise. A splash of white wine. A dollop of Dijon mustard. One tablespoon of curry powder. A pinch of salt and pepper. Three tablespoons of Major Grey’s chutney. Mix all together. 

Add two shredded skinless chicken breasts. Mix with the sauce. Then add a good sized handful of golden raisins. Mix again. We did not have celery, but it would be lovely added too, but not necessary. I covered it and put it in the fridge overnight so the flavors really did their thing.

At the shop I put it into a serving bowl and mixed it two handfuls of roasted, salted cashews. The raisins and the cashews really bring back the memory of this salad, along with the curry powder. I served it with crackers but it works beautifully made into a sandwich or a big dollop on a bed of greens. I was instantly transported back to my tennis whites eating a big bowl of this before heading out on the court to teach lessons. Cheers!