Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce


















I  got this recipe from my friend R, who got it from Healing Cuisine Website. She was raving about it, and I love coconut milk and basil, so I was looking forward to trying it out. I mean ideally I would have invited myself over to dinner at her place, but, as we are currently miles and miles apart, I had to cook it myself. I did have some questions for R along the way. She is a good person to cook with, as she keeps me in check, and makes sure I follow the instructions.. sometimes I try and take shortcuts.  It doesn't usually work in my favour.



I must say, it turned out really delicious. I didn't have chicken breasts so I used chicken thighs, the chicken is so flavorful and moist. This is rare for me as I have a tendency to overcook chicken leaving it dry.

Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts , or chicken thighs
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cloves (I omitted as I didn't have)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 large red onion, diced- I used regular onion
6 cloves garlic, minced- I used a bit less
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 Tbsp coconut oil
15 oz organic, full fat coconut milk
2 tsp arrowroot- This is available at the health food store, whole foods, or bulk barn. you can substitute flour if you dont have it. 
3 Tbsp fresh basil
1 Tbsp chopped ginger root
Hot cooked wild rice- I mixed wild rice and brown rice


Directions
1.)  Rinse chicken & pat dry.  Cut into 1" pieces and place in medium bowl.  In a small bowl, stir together all spices.  Sprinkle over chicken pieces, toss to coat well.  Cover and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes or in fridge up to 2 hours<< this makes the chicken so flavourful! 
2.)  In stainless steel skillet, heat coconut oil over medium high heat.  Add onion, garlic and jalapeno and cook for about 2-3 minutes.  Remove, reserving drippings in the skillet.
3.)  Add half of the chicken to skillet.  Cook and stir for 3 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove chicken and add remaining half; cook through.  Remove from skillet.
4.)  Combine coconut milk with arrowroot and carefully add to skillet.  Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thick and bubbly.  Add chicken mixture, onion, garlic and jalepeno, whole basil leaves and ginger root.  Cook 2 minutes more to heat through
5.)  Serve over wild rice and garnish with red onion wedges and basil leaves.


It is flavourfull and not too spicy. If you want to make it more spicy add more jalepeno or chili powder. 

I served it with baby bok choy to keep up the Asian theme (wrong part of Asia I am pretty sure, but that's ok)
I can't wait to have leftovers for lunch! T-30 min.. 

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