If you lived in the country and didn’t raise chickens, the best way to buy a chicken was to go to the poultry farm and wait for them to kill and pluck one. I had no choice about going along on these excursions but at least I could hide away in the feed shed and avert my eyes by looking at the feed-bag fabric until after the chicken was ready for cooking. Once the chicken was purchased, I was allowed to select the fabric for my next outfit from the collection of printed feedbags the farmer’s wife had neatly stacked into piles of stripes, flowers, and polka dots.
1 (4½- to 5-pound) stewing chicken, cut into 8 pieces
⅓ cup unsifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons curry powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening or butter (or a mixture)
2 cups water
¾ cup finely chopped onion
½ cup finely chopped carrot
½ cup finely chopped celery
Hot cooked long-grain white rice, optional
Rinse and thoroughly drain chicken. Combine flour, curry powder, salt, and pepper in a plastic bag; add chicken pieces and shake to coat completely.
Heat 1 tablespoon shortening over medium heat in a 5-quart Dutch oven. Add as many chicken pieces as will fit and sauté until browned on all sides. When browned, remove chicken to plate and brown remaining pieces, adding remaining shortening as necessary.
Return all chicken pieces to Dutch oven. Add water, onion, carrot, and celery. Bring water to a boil; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer chicken until tender, about 1 to 1¼ hours.
To serve, remove chicken to serving bowl or casserole. Discard fat from broth in Dutch oven. Puree broth and vegetables in a food mill or food processor. Reheat, if necessary, and pour over chicken. Serve with rice, if desired.
4 Servings