Clay-Pot Chicken

Luschka's Note:

A delicious spicy chicken with a delicate hint of coconut. The tomato and coriander really make this dish! And it's really simple to make and easy to prepare ahead of time!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 35 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 45 ml grated coconut
• 30 ml vegetable oil
• 1 small onions or 2 shallots , finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves , crushed
• 5 cm lemongrass
• 2 ½ cm fresh gingerroot , thinly sliced
• 2 fresh chili peppers , seeded and chopped
• 1 teaspoon tamarind paste
• 400 g coconut milk
• 300 ml chicken stock
• 2 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
• 15 ml granulated sugar
• 15 ml rice wine vinegar or 15 ml white wine vinegar
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 1 bunch fresh coriander (to garnish)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.
2. Dry fry the coconut in a large wok until evenly browned. Add the vegetable oil, shallots or onion, garlic, lemon grass, ginger, chillies and tamarind paste. Fry for 2 - 4 minutes to release the flavours. Add the chicken pieces to the wok and brown evenly with the spices for 2 - 3 minutes.
3. Strain the coconut milk, and add the thin part with the chicken stock, lime leaves, if using, sugar and vinegar. Transfer to a glazed clay pot, cover and bake in the centre of the oven for 50 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Stir in the thick part of the coconut milk and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes.
4. Place the tomatoes in a bowl and cover with boiling water to loosen and remove the skins. halve the tomatoes, then remove the seeds and chop into large dice.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes to the finished dish, sprinkle with the chopped coriander and serve.
6. Plain rice is the usual accompaniment, but I normally serve with Naan Bread.

Reviews

[Sue Lau]

This was ok. I served it with steamed rice. I think I would have liked this more if more coconut milk were used in place of the chicken stock. Thanks for posting.

[tornadoes three]

What a delicious meal. I couldn't find lemon grass but still this was a superior recipe. Instead of a clay pot, I used a glass baking dish. I got spectacular results. Thank you Luschka.