Hi NJ,
Let us know how the thigh meat turns out. I'm sure I've had thigh meat in a TA here in Liverpool and it is always very tasty and tender. Did you skin the thighs first? A lot of fat is stuck to the inside of chicken skin so if you remove the skin you remove most of the fat.
I'm not sure whether your curried chicken fat would be nice or not. You'll have to taste it and let us know!
Cheers,
Paul