published
For a delicious dinner party recipe that's cost effective and yet full of flavour, give this chicken thigh dish a try this week.
HOW TO MAKE MEXICAN CHICKEN
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1tbsp vegetable oil
- 8 free-range organic chicken thighs
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1- 1½tbsp dried mulatto chillies (from coolchile.co.uk)
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 2tsp coriander seeds, crushed
- 1tsp fennel seeds, crushed
- ¾tsp sweet smoked paprika
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 200g passata
- 300ml chicken stock
- 2tbsp raisins
- 35g 85% dark chocolate, chopped
- juice of
½
- - 1 lime
- large handful fresh coriander
For the rice:
- 1tsp vegetable oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 tomatoes, core removed, deseeded and finely chopped
- 250g basmati rice, rinsed in cold water
- 150g frozen peas, thawed
Method
- Heat the oil in a heavy-based casserole over a medium heat, brown the chicken thighs on all sides and set aside. In the same pan, cook the onions for 5 minutes or until lightly browned, add the garlic, chillies, allspice, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, paprika and cinnamon stick and cook for another minute.
- Add the passata, stock, raisins and chocolate to the pan along with the chicken. Mix well and bring to the boil, reduce to a gentle simmer and leave to cook for 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes. Season well and stir in the lime juice and fresh coriander to taste, season well. Add a little water if it looks dry.
- For the rice: Heat the oil in a saucepan, gently cook the onions for 3 minutes, add the tomatoes and rice, mix well and cook for another minute. Add 450ml cold water, bring to the boil, reduce to a gentle simmer, cover with a tight fitting lid and leave to cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside for 5 minutes before opening the lid. Meanwhile, place the peas in a bowl of boiling water, drain, mix into the rice and season well.
