Porcini Polenta with Chicken and Mushroom Curry
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This porcini polenta with chicken and mushroom curry is two simple things that love each other: golden grilled polenta with dried porcini mushrooms cooked in dried porcini water, and a mild, creamy chicken curry simmered in milk, with buttery hedgehog mushrooms and yellowfoot stirred in at the end.
I made it after a late-autumn walk with a basket of hedgehogs and winter chanterelles. Two of us at the table don’t eat mushrooms, so I cooked two versions side by side – plain polenta and curry for them, the forest version for us. Both disappeared.
Table of Contents
Why Polenta with Curry?
Polenta is mild and soaks up sauce like bread. When you let it set and grill it, the outside gets a crisp, golden crust and the inside stays soft – perfect under a creamy curry. Cooking it with the dried porcini mushrooms and in the porcini soaking water gives it a deep, nutty mushroom flavour, and the little pieces of porcini stay in the polenta.
Which Mushrooms Can I Use?
I used hedgehog mushrooms and yellowfoot (winter chanterelles), two mushrooms we find in late autumn. Hedgehogs are firm and nutty; yellowfoot are thin and full of forest flavour. Golden chanterelles, porcini or a mix of wild mushrooms work just as well. Frozen wild mushrooms go straight from the freezer into the butter – never thawed. Only use mushrooms you have identified with certainty; here is how to clean winter chanterelles.
For the polenta I use 10 g of dried porcini per 100 g of polenta and pour in all the soaking water – it is where most of the flavour is. More about soaking: dried porcini mushrooms – and if you love them, try my dried porcini risotto.
What Is in Garam Masala?
Garam masala is a warm Indian spice blend. Mine is the organic blend from Hofer(Austria): mostly coriander, with cumin, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, garlic, cardamom and cloves. Together with turmeric and a little sweet paprika it makes a mild, golden curry that even children like. If you like it hotter, add a pinch of chilli.
How to Make It Step by Step
Porcini Polenta with Chicken Curry Recipe
Porcini Polenta with Chicken and Mushroom Curry
Difficulty: Easy4
servings20
minutes1
hour140
minutesCreamy chicken curry simmered in milk with garam masala, turmeric and ginger, with buttery hedgehog mushrooms and yellowfoot, served over grilled porcini polenta with rosemary.
Ingredients
- Porcini polenta
20 g dried porcini
500 ml liquid in total: the porcini soaking water topped up with water
200 g polenta (cornmeal)
30 g butter
1 tsp salt and a little black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil, plus a little for the dish
2–3 sprigs fresh rosemary and some rosemary salt
- Chicken curry
500 g chicken breast, in bite-sized pieces
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp sweet paprika powder
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp oil
A thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, grated
About 600 ml milk – enough to cover the chicken
Salt to taste
- Wild mushrooms
200 g hedgehog mushrooms
200 g yellowfoot (winter chanterelles)
30 g butter
Directions
- Porcini polenta (make it at least 1 hour ahead)
- Soak the dried porcini in about 200 ml hot water for 10–15 minutes, until soft. Bring 300 ml water with the salt and butter to the boil and add the porcini together with all their soaking water.
- Pour in the polenta in a thin stream while whisking, then keep whisking until it is thick (about 5 minutes for quick-cooking polenta – follow the packet). Season with pepper.
- Brush a dish with olive oil, spread the polenta about 2 cm thick and smooth the top. Let it cool and set for at least 1 hour.
- Chicken curry
- Mix the chicken pieces with the garam masala, turmeric and paprika until every piece is coated.
- Soften the onion in the oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, then add the ginger and stir for a minute.
- Add the chicken and fry it until it starts to stick to the bottom and the spices smell wonderful. Pour in a splash of milk to loosen everything from the pan, then add the rest of the milk so the chicken is covered.
- Put the lid on and simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes, until the chicken is tender. Pull the pieces apart a little with two forks and season with salt.
- Wild mushrooms
- Melt the butter in a wide pan, add the hedgehog mushrooms and yellowfoot and toss them until they release their liquid. Put the lid on for a few minutes, then take it off and cook until the liquid is gone – about 10 minutes in total. Salt to taste.
- Stir the mushrooms into the curry.
- Grill and serve
- Cut the set polenta into fingers. Heat a grill pan with the olive oil and rosemary and grill the polenta for 4–5 minutes on each side, until golden. Sprinkle with rosemary salt.
- Put the polenta on plates and spoon the chicken and mushroom curry over it.
Notes
- Half without mushrooms: make the polenta for those plates with plain water instead of porcini water, and stir the mushrooms into only half of the curry. Frozen wild mushrooms work too – straight from the freezer into the butter, never thawed. The garam masala I use is the Hofer bio blend (coriander, cumin, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, garlic, cardamom and cloves).
FAQ
Can I make the polenta ahead?
Yes. Cook it the day before, cover the dish and keep it in the fridge. Cut and grill it just before serving.
Can I bake the polenta instead of grilling it?
Yes. Brush the fingers with olive oil and bake them at 220 °C for about 20 minutes, turning once, until golden.
Can I make the curry without mushrooms?
Yes. Simply leave them out – the chicken curry is complete on its own. Use plain water for the polenta, too.
Why milk instead of coconut milk?
Milk makes a lighter, milder sauce that lets the mushrooms taste of the forest. Coconut milk works too if you prefer.
More wild mushroom dinners: chicken and chanterelle sauce and sautéed wild mushrooms. Got a jar of dried mushrooms? Try how to dry and use dried mushrooms.
