I am so excited to share this new recipe with you. As usual, I am going to take the easy simple way...for a tangy aromatic dish. But before doing so, you know what you need to do ----> read my welcome note FIRST.
Tonight's recipe goes nicely with the Bukhari Rice dish in my previous post. But you need not limit yourself to this combination. I will give you other tips at the end of this recipe.
Tonight's recipe is Chicken in Gingery Fruit Sauce from Morocco.
As a rule of thumb I never share a recipe unless I try it out myself...and if am not pleased with the results, I don't share. And today I was more than pleased with the result. It is an exotic dish with a slight fruity tinge to it.
So let's start. And please follow my instructions carefully. I am presenting this recipe in stages to simplify it for you.
For 2 persons you will need the following :
Stage 1 - boiling the chicken to cut time in half.
- 2 pieces of chicken breasts preferably with skin and bone.
- the following spices :
* 1/2 a cinnamon stick
* 1/2 onion cut in quarters
* 3 bay leaves
* 3 cardamom grains
* 4 cloves
* a pinch of caraway seeds (optional)
- Wash the chicken and put in saucepan
- cover well with boiling water and add the spices above
- leave it to cook on medium heat until cooked.
- make sure to add enough water because we will need the broth later on.
- once cooked remove the chicken and drain the broth from spices. Keep Chicken and broth separately.
Stage 2 - preparing the chicken
- 3 spring onions OR one medium size onion minced
- 1 tbs of finely grated ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed
- 1 tbs of cooking oil
- salt and pepper
- a deep frying pan
- Heat oil, and add your onions, ginger and garlic, salt and pepper on a medium heat until the mix is tender. ADD a little chicken broth every time you see the mixture drying out. You don't want it to burn but to become tender. So do not fear adding a LITTLE broth to wet the mix whenever needed.
Once mix is tender, put your chicken breasts and fry them with the ginger/garlic/onion until the chicken breasts are brownish. Again add a LITTLE broth if you see it drying out. It needs to remain moist but NOT liquid.
Stage 3 - Preparing the Ginger Fruity Sauce
- 1/2 tbs of olive oil
- 1 spring onion finely minced
- 1 Flat Tbs of finely grated ginger
- 1 full TBS of either Cherry Jam or Blackberry Jam. I used Cherry.
- Small non stick frying pan
Mix the olive oil, onion and ginger, cook gently on a medium to low heat, until the onions are translucent, add the Cherry Jam stirring it in by adding some of the chicken broth...until it becomes a thickish sauce. Do not turn it into a soup. Taste, if you feel it needs more jam add more jam but 1 TBS is enough for the tangy taste. Leave it to cook for a couple of minutes, adding broth if necessary so as not to dry.
Once your sauce is right, pour it on top of the chicken preparation, mix well and heat the whole thing, again if you feel it drying out, wet it with a little of the chicken broth.
Serve hot and generously decorate with fresh coriander/ cilantro leaves - about 5 cilantro branches.
To be served with either the Bukhari rice - previous post or with white rice (check blog for cooking rice)
If serving with Bukhari rice - Skip raisins and onion in rice recipe.
If serving with White rice - follow instructions on how to cook Basmati rice in previous posts.
Tip 1 : in both cases, instead of using water, use the remaining chicken broth to cook rice
Tip 2: if cooking white rice, add a pinch of Turmeric and a pinch of ground Cardamom
Finish off with chilled Melon and Green Tea with Fresh mint.
Bon appétit !
