The other night I scrounged through the cupboards and fridge to figure out what I wanted to do with the chicken thighs. Normally this ends up being a meager meal that is decent, but not one I would replicate. This dish however I can’t wait to make again!
The lighting in my kitchen is awful.
Ingredients
– Approx 650g (1.5lb) chicken thighs
– 1/3C plain yogurt
– 1/2 lime
– curry spices: cumin, curry powder, cinnamon, saffron, salt, pepper, chili powder, tumeric. Basically whatever you’ve got
– 1/2 med. size red onion
– 1 clove garlic
– 1 small ginger root
– 1C tomato sauce
– 1C half and half
– 2tbsp butter
– coconut butter or oil for cooking
Method
1. In a medium sized bowl combine yogurt, juice from half a squeezed lime and your spices. I never measure spices so my apologies to those who need exact measurements. Basically, go heavy on the cumin and curry powder, light on the cinnamon, salt an pepper an everything else is in between.
2. Put your chicken thighs in and thoroughly coat. Marinate for at least 30min (my opinion, the longer the better.
3. Heat coconut butter or oil in a skillet over medium heat. Shake off excess marinade and lightly brown chicken, approx, 5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a glass dish for oven use. At this time, preheat oven to 350C.
4. Blend together the 1/2 onion, garlic and ginger (all chopped) with 2tbsp water until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine tomato sauce and half & half.
5. Heat coconut butter or oil in skillet over medium heat. Add the onion blend and let simmer until the moisture has evaporated and you’re left with a paste. Add tomato sauce mixture and let simmer for 5min.
6. Add this mixture to the chicken. Make sure everything is coated. Put chicken in the oven for 30min.
7. This step is not necessary, but if you’d rather have chunks of chicken instead of the thighs, I pull the chicken apart and remove the bones at this time. I find it easier than when the chicken is raw (but being only a year into non-vegetarianism in squeamish about uncooked chicken). I also like to do it at this point because I can tell if the chicken is cooked or not!
8. Put the chicken back in the oven for 10min.
9. Take it out of the oven and let it settle for about 5min. When ready, serve over rice or quinoa and enjoy!
