Mexican Chicken Recipe

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.