I still have a lot more from our Hawaii trip I want to share with you. But I also wanted to share one of the dishes I’ve made since we’ve been back — from a Hawaiian cookbook I bought at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

This was the second thing I tried from the cookbook. The coconut cake I baked for my birthday didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted it, so I need to work on that a bit. This, on the other hand, was fantastic.

Hooray for pineapple! I cut these chunks into smaller pieces before adding it to the curry.

I always think of curries as difficult to make, but this was pretty easy. You will need a bunch of spices, though.

Check the chicken to make sure it’s cooked through before you add the coconut milk and cashews — my chicken chunks were a bit bigger than they should have been (I think), so it took longer to cook than the recipe said.

I served this with brown rice and it was perfect. If you start the rice right before you start chopping things for the curry, it should be done around the same time. Enjoy!

Chicken and pineapple curry (Adapted slightly from “Best of the Best from Hawai’i cookbook“) Serves 4
1-2 onions (I used one Vidalia, but you can also use yellow onions)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste
1 cup diced pineapple
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup unsalted, roasted cashew nuts
1/2 cup chopped Chinese parsley (optional)

Finely mince the onion(s). Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat and then saute onion, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.

While onion is cooking, mince the garlic and ginger and cut chicken into 1-inch cubes. Once onion is golden or transparent, add the chicken, garlic, ginger and spices. Cook on medium-low heat for 4 minutes.

Add water and season with salt to taste. Cover skillet with a lid or aluminum foil and simmer on low heat for 6-7 minutes.

Stir in pineapple, re-cover, and simmer an additional 3-4 minutes. Check to make sure chicken is cooked through. When it’s just cooked through, stir in coconut milk, cashews and Chinese parsley. Cook for one more minute, then remove from heat.

Serve hot with rice.