Pivoting on the surprising participation and relative success of the Halal Chicken thread, I thought I’d share a recipe that I’ve developed over years and it’s become my family’s favourite. In fact, my daughter will be coming home for a long weekend from college and this is the one dish she requested for one of her home cooked meals.
Disclaimer: I’m sure I riffed this recipe from something I’ve seen or read but it’s been too long for me to cite the original source and it’s significantly changed so that I’m sure I’m not infringing on any copyrights.
We start with the ingredients:
- chicken, de-boned white or dark meat ( I use whatever I happen to have on hand)
- Montreal chicken spice mix
- Lemon pepper spice spice mix
- Italian herb mix
- Dried onion flakes (I know, but it’s got a toasted taste that you just don’t get with fresh onion)
- Red pepper flakes
- Dried garlic flakes (Ditto the onion flakes)
- That’s my jams: Apricot, 3 Citrus marmalade, Ginger marmalade
- Major Gray’s chutney
- Dried apricots (chopped)
- Golden raisins
- Fresh Mango (cut into bite sized pieces)
- Table cream or Half/Half
Method:
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Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and dust generously with array of spices and dried herbs (except pepper flakes). Most of the spices have some salt already in them so you don’t have to add more salt but you can if use low or non-sodium spices.
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Saute the chicken in a large(!) skillet in oil (I use coconut oil) and butter.
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When chicken is browned and basically cooked through, turn down heat to low and continue by adding:
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half to full jar of Major Grey’s Chutney (depending on amount of chicken)
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2 heaping tbls of each: Apricot, 3-Citrus Marmalade, Ginger marmalade
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Once all the jams are in, you’ll have a good cup to cup and a half of jams in the pan. Let them gently melt and heat through with the chicken on low heat.
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Add chopped dried apricots and raisins
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Add red pepper flakes (to taste)
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If juices in the pan seem too thick/jammy, add some boiling hot water to thin it out. Sauce should be the consistency of very runny honey at this point and there should be enough liquid in the pan to just cover the chicken pieces.
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Once the jams are thoroughly mixed and bubbling gently, add the fresh cut mango chunks.
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To finish, add a generous amount of half/half or table cream.
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If the chicken is not fully covered in the sauce and cream, add some more hot water (or hot low sodium chicken stock).
The rice:
Of course, while you were making the chicken, you had a pot of rice with a half lemon and bay leaf cooking on the back burner, right? You’ll need that.
Serve:
Spoon the chicken over the rice in bowls. Be generous with the sauce. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley.
It should be sweet (the jams), and spicy (the pepper flakes), and savoury (the seasonings), and the mango should still have some texture and freshness to it - often I’ll use an under ripe mango for the tart contrast to the sauce.
Enjoy while cosmically hot!