ramtops

As I’ve mentioned before, our local CoOp is really not bad, and I always take a beak at the reduced section where they put the items that have reached their sell-by date. About three weeks ago, I picked up two packs of chicken thighs – 11 thighs for £3.30. I stowed them in the freezer under the stairs, as had no particular plan for them.

Pete came home from his foraging on Saturday with a big bunch of coriander, and so we decided to make lemony coriander chicken. This is a Madhur Jaffrey recipe that we have refined over the years, and one of our favourites.

I did ours in the slow cooker, but I’ll give you the destructions for the more conventional means. If you want to use a slow cooker, bung everything in, and cook on low for about 6-7 hours.

Brown the chicken pieces in groundnut oil in a shallow pot, ideally wide enough to keep the chicken in one layer – I usually use a Le Creuset saute pan. Set the chicken to drain on some kitchen paper. Keep the oil.

Chop up some garlic small. Blend some fresh ginger with about 4 tablespoons of water – as much as you like, we use lots, as we like things gingery. Chop up 1/2 – 1 green chilli; up to you whether you use the seeds or not, depending on your chilli tolerance. Take some ground coriander seeds, cumin seeds and turmeric, and possibly a pinch of cayenne. Chop up lots and lots of fresh green coriander. Halve a lemon.

Re-heat the oil, and add the garlic – stir till browned. Add the ginger/water paste and stir about for a minute or so. Add the ground spices, the green chilli, juice of the lemon, and the coriander. Stir a bit.

Put the chicken back in; I put the lemon halves in too – shame to waste them. Bring up to a simmer, put a lid on and cook for about 40 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces part way through if you feel like it – I don’t generally bother.

Eat with basmati rice – utterly delicious, I assure you.