I was recently sent a clay pot from Romertopf to try out and review. Cooking in a clay pot is something I never really thought about, or even considered. You just cook your meal in a clay pot which has been soaking in water. This releases steam while it cooks and keeps the food moist. Clay pots have been used for cooking dating back to Roman times and are still used around the world. The clay pots are perfect for making roast chicken, paella, ratatouille, or even dessert!
I honestly had no idea how to go about finding a recipe to try out my new spiffy clay pot. So I just used a recipe from the Romertopf website as my first attempt. The Curry Clay Pot Chicken sounded right up my alley. (https://www.romertopfonline.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 6 small new red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch slices (I forgot to cut mine! Make sure you do though!)
- 6 baby carrots
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 medium tomato, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
The key to having everything cook correctly is to keep everything relatively uniformly cut. If you’ve read my posts before, you know I am pretty awful at this. So I don’t know how uniform everything was, but they were all generally the same size.
Before cooking, you need to prep your clay pot. Soak the clay pot for 15 to 30 minutes. Place the clay pot in your oven before turning it on, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Trim the fat from the chicken thighs and cut into cubes.
In a bowl, combine the salt, pepper, ginger and cornstarch and toss the chicken in the mixture.
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small pot over high heat. Add the potatoes (which should be cut, mine weren’t oops) and carrots. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Heat a large sauté pan over high heat. Add the oil and the chicken and stir to cook on all sides for 1 minute. Add the garlic, onion, curry powder and tomato and cook for 1 minute.
Add the potatoes, carrot, soy sauce and sugar, stirring to combine.
Transfer the mixture to your clay pot. Be very careful when doing this! I removed the top of the clay pot with oven mitts and rested it on the non-hot part of my stove. I then just transferred the mixture into the clay pot while it sat on a pulled out rack in my oven. Be sure not to burn yourself in the process! Cover the clay pot again and cook for 20 minutes.
I decided to serve this with my leftovers from the night before, coconut rice and baby bok choy, which was an awesome pairing. I strongly suggest having rice to sop up all of the flavor and juices from the dish.
The chicken did remain incredibly moist. The curry flavor was present but not overbearing. I absolutely loved how the tomatoes soaked up the flavors as well. My potatoes were relatively hard, I really wish I hadn’t forgotten to cut them!
I hope to try more of a “one pot wonder” kind of idea with this pot because I can imagine the clay pot being a nice time saver.
Curry Clay Pot Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 6 small new red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch slices (I forgot to cut mine! Make sure you do though!)
- 6 baby carrots
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 medium tomato, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- The key to having everything cook correctly is to keep everything relatively uniformly cut. If you’ve read my posts before, you know I am pretty awful at this. So I don’t know how uniform everything was, but they were all generally the same size.
- Before cooking, you need to prep your clay pot. Soak the clay pot for 15 to 30 minutes. Place the clay pot in your oven before turning it on, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Trim the fat from the chicken thighs and cut into cubes.
- In a bowl, combine the salt, pepper, ginger and cornstarch and toss the chicken in the mixture.
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small pot over high heat. Add the potatoes (which should be cut, mine weren’t oops) and carrots. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Heat a large sauté pan over high heat. Add the oil and the chicken and stir to cook on all sides for 1 minute. Add the garlic, onion, curry powder and tomato and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the potatoes, carrot, soy sauce and sugar, stirring to combine.
- Transfer the mixture to your clay pot. Be very careful when doing this! I removed the top of the clay pot with oven mitts and rested it on the non-hot part of my stove. I then just transferred the mixture into the clay pot while it sat on a pulled out rack in my oven. Be sure not to burn yourself in the process! Cover the clay pot again and cook for 20 minutes.
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Hi Kait, how easy was clean up? I don’t have a clay pot and never used one so I’m unfamiliar with proper maintenance for one.
I was a little bummed that it used so many pots prior to adding everything to the clay pot. The actual clay pot wasn’t awful to clean. I soaked it for a little while with soapy water and then just scrubbed.
I’ve never cooked in a clay pot, but have enjoyed meals my sister has made using one. This looks fantastic!
Looks delicious! Everything looks unified and balanced. The presentation is very well-done as well.
We want a clay pot now! THanks a lot! 🙂
My wife had been using a Romertopf clay pot long before she met me (and I’m a “gourmet” cook). It is the ONLY way she makes a simple roast chicken. And it couldn’t be easier. Soak the pot, put the whole chicken in with onions, garlic, seasonings, etc., put ‘er in a cold oven and let ‘er rip. It produces the most flavorful, moist, tender and – surprisingly – beautifully browned roast chicken I’ve ever had anywhere. It’s absolutely foolproof.
There is also a wonderful recipe, courtesy of Emeril Lagasse, for Clay Pot Honey Lemon Chicken, that my wife and I have made several times now. It’s a nice variation on the basic roast chicken with a thicker sauce (thanks to the addition of a roux):
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/clay-pot-honey-lemon-chicken-recipe/index.html
Once you try a clay pot, you’ll be tempted never to go back. A couple of comments that might be helpful:
The reason the pot has to be soaked in water for 15 minutes prior to use is two-fold: 1) yes, it releases steam, but also 2) so that it doesn’t crack when it’s subjected to heat.
#2 is also why you need to put the pot into a COLD (not preheated) oven. Put a cold clay pot into a hot oven and the pot will crack.
Lastly, I’ve never had to sear anything before cooking it in a clay pot. It seems to brown nicely on its own. That definitely helps save you from dirtying additional pots and pans. As for cleanup, you sometimes do have to give the pot a good scrubbing, as it’s not non-stick. But I have found that the bottom half does well in the dishwasher. The top half (i.e. the “lid”) is a bit more delicate; I put that on the dishwasher’s upper rack.
We loved your recipe, and also cooked the Emeril Lagassee Honey Lemon chicken. It’s always a treat finding new “worthy” recipes online. We are thinking of going big over the holidays and doing a turkey dinner in a clay pot. Has any one done this before? It looks like the Romertopf 117 is the biggest clay baker and best for the job. I’ll let you know how it goes 🙂