I shared one of our family’s new(ish) favourite dinners on my Instagram story last night and the people went CRAZY! I can’t remember the last time I had such a requested recipe. So here we go, here’s an utterly unauthentic recipe for Tandoori Chicken with Mango Raita and Coconut Rice. Don’t die of shock that I’ve posted on my blog: Yeah, I know it’s been a hot minute. I have a website… Who knew?
By the way, sorry about the crap photo – I didn’t realise I’d be posting it on here and I don’t have another photo to use. Oh well! Side note, I really need to get some of those fancy backdrops for photos, like, you know: A real food blogger… Snort.
Tandoori paste for the chicken – you can use any. I bought some Tit’illating Tandoori Paste by Pepper and Me from my local Bin Inn (my best Lockdown find, didn’t know Rotorua Bin Inn stocked Pepper and Me (#obsessed #happydays). The inclusion of the mango in the raita means my cucumber-dodging teenager will happily eat it. I pretty much only use Puhoi Valley Greek Yogurt in this recipe: I love the creamy texture, it’s not too tart… In fact, I can, and do, eat this right out of the tub by the spoonful. As for the coconut rice, well: It’s a bit indulgent, but feel free to cook regular rice, sans coconut cream.
As for the chicken – ditch any thoughts of using chicken breast: Thigh is where it’s at. I love thigh: It’s hard to overcook. Ha. The chutney I used on the side of this is a South African Classic – Here’s a link to it at Countdown – it’s easily available: Here in NZ at least!
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs – skinless and boneless
- 4 tlb tandoori paste
- 3 tlb natural Greek Yogurt (I use Puhoi Valley)
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 1 (400 ml) can coconut milk
- 1+ ½ cups of water
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 can mango, drained and diced
- ¾ telegraph cucumber, diced
- ½ red onion, diced
- ½ - ¾ cup of yogurt
- 1.5 cup of spinach leaves, finely diced
- Large handful of mint leaves, chopped (can also use coriander)
- 1 tsp lemon or lime juice
- ½ tsp of chilli flakes/fresh diced chilli or chilli powder (optional) – optional
- ½ tsp salt
- Optional to serve: Mrs Balls Chutney
Instructions
- Chicken: In a large bowl, combine yogurt and tandoori paste. Pat chicken dry. Add to the paste. Stir to combine. Cover then pop in the fridge, ideally overnight to marinade, but an hour will work at a pinch! To cook: Pull the chicken out of the marinade and cook via one of the following methods: Airfryer - 180 degrees, 20 minutes (turning half way through); BBQ: Cook on an oiled grill on the BBQ at a high temp for for 3 mins each side; Oven bake: Preheat oven to 200 deg C; Place the chicken in an oiled roasting tin. Drizzle with melted butter and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
- After cooking (regardless of method): Cover with foil and let it rest for 5 mins. Slice.
Rice: In a medium sized pot, rinse the jasmine rice several times until the water runs clear. Drain any excess water and add the coconut milk, water and salt. Bring to a gentle boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, for covered for 15 minutes. After 15 mins, turn the heat off, and let sit for 8 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve.Raita: Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
- Serve the rice, alongside the chicken and raita (and Mrs Balls Chutney) Add some sliced tomatoes if you want to get really fancy. Garnish with chopped mint or coriander.
Pulled Pork Hawker Rolls: My new favourite food.
Tonight’s #shopyourownpantry dinner* was a bacon, egg and potato crustless quiche which was inspired by all the comments on my Facebook page after I shared this post about eggs:
Monday morning struck, I’m totes out of cooking inspiration. I grabbed two chicken breasts out of the freezer to defrost and vowed that, by the time 5.30pm rocked around, I’d have thought of something vaguely creative and appetising to feed the family. To be brutally honest, whilst I adore cooking, I don’t enjoy mid week cooking. Time is at the essence, we are all hangry and usually I’m cooking two meals to appease two foodie adults and one gorgeous, but bloody fussy eating, nine year old. I don’t have enough time during the week, frankly, to faff around preparing two meals. But I usually do. Aggh.
I found this little ripper of a recipe in Cuisine magazine years ago. I used to make this all the time when I was at uni and my (fellow foodie) buddy Ants would come over for dinner on a Sunday night. More often than not, I’d make this and we’d devour it. I also used to make this for the family I used to nanny for (I’d trek to work with my food processor tucked under one arm as they didn’t have one). The kids used to polish this off.
