Chicken in Stewed Tomatoes

• 2 chicken leg quarters or 4 drumsticks
• 2 TBS flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 2 TBS butter
• ¼ cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ¼ cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced OR
• 1 TBS chopped green chilies (canned)
• 1 tsp. curry powder (optional)
• 1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
• ¼ cup chopped celery (1 stalk)
• About 1 1/2 cups frozen cut okra (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. salt, ¼ tsp. black pepper
• 1 TBS soy sauce

Mix 2 tablespoons flour, 1 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. pepper in a medium size bowl or a large plate. Coat all sides of the chicken pieces with the flour mixture. An easier way of coating the chicken pieces is to put the flour mixture in a plastic bag and drop the chicken pieces one at a time and shake the bag, like the “Shake and Bake” method.

Melt the butter in a deep skillet over moderately low heat. Add the chicken pieces and brown all sides, raising the heat to moderately hot. Remove the chicken from the skillet.

Sauté the garlic, onions, green pepper and jalapeño and celery in the same skillet with the butter until the vegetables are tender. Add curry, ½ tsp. salt, pepper and 1 TBS soy sauce. Add the canned tomatoes, undrained. Simmer uncovered about 5 minutes pressing the tomatoes and stirring to prevent from sticking and burning.

Return the chicken pieces to the skillet and simmer covered over medium low heat 40 minutes until fork tender.

Halfway through, turn the chicken over or loosen the bottom of the chicken from the skillet if sticking. Add the okra and continue to simmer covered the rest of the way.

Adjust the seasoning if needed.

For shortcut, use canned stewed tomatoes or canned stewed okra or both in lieu of canned diced tomatoes and omit celery and frozen okra.

The curry powder makes this dish different from other similar chicken recipes. It gives it a Middle Eastern flare.

Serve with rice if desired.