Curry and paprika are an interesting combination in the preparation of food and are often used together in many Indian and Caribbean dishes such as chicken curry and jerk chicken.

We do a fare amount of cooking with chicken and other types of poultry. Our freezers generally have an ample supply of Hutterite chickens as well as a turkey or two and a hunting season worth of pheasants, which make for some fine eating over the winter.

I was a bit remiss earlier this year when our chicken supply was dwindling and failed to contact my friend, Tony Waldner, at the Forest River Hutterite Colony. So when I recently was able to get in touch with Tony about getting some more chickens, he informed me they were all out and wouldn’t have any until July. I don’t know if the COVID-19 crisis had anything to do with the run on the Hutterite chickens, but it was a little disappointing to say the least.

But as I mentioned earlier, we usually have a good supply of pheasants, so whenever a good chicken recipe piques my interest, the wily (or in their case not so wily) ringnecks stored in the freezer come to the rescue.

The following recipe, which features a rub of a curry and paprika mixture, would work well with both chicken and pheasant. Combined with wild rice and mushrooms, this tasty dish is easy to make and has become one of our favorites.

Slow Cooker Curried Fowl with Wild Rice and Mushrooms
2 pheasant breasts and meat from about 12 thighs (or two chicken breasts, split in half; 2 legs with thighs attached; and 2 wings)
1½ teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon black pepper
Dash salt
¼ cup flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
8 ounces wild rice (about 1 cup)
1 10¾-ounce can cream of mushroom soup (or cream of celery soup)
1 (10¾-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 (4-ounce) can mushrooms (undrained)
1small onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 cups water
If using pheasant, remove thigh meat from leg and debone breasts. If using chicken, cut up into six pieces: 2 legs with thighs attached, 2 wings and the chicken breast, split in half. Pat dry and sprinkle with the paprika, curry powder, salt, and pepper. Dust the pieces with the flour.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the seasoned pheasant or chicken parts, turning to brown all sides.
Transfer the browned pieces of meat to the slow cooker. Sprinkle with the dry onion soup mix.
In a bowl, combine the rice, canned soups, undrained mushrooms, onion, celery and water; stir to blend and then pour over the onion soup layer.
Cover and cook on the high setting for 5 hours.
Remove the rice and mushroom mixture to a shallow serving bowl and place the pheasant or chicken on a plate. Serve together.