Coconut lime curried chicken

One of my favorite things to do in my spare time is read other chefs cook books. I found this amazing coconut lime curried chicken recipe in one of Marcus Samuelsson books Marcus off Duty: the recipes I cook at home.

If you are interested click here to check out his books or you can also find it at your local library , that is where I got mine!

Anyways, back to the chicken: coconut and stewed meats in general is always a good match. It adds a creamy, slightly sweet flavor that you can’t quite achieve with other ingredients, and compliments spicy flavors tremendously. Next, is lime; I believe lime in this case helps to brighten up the sauce,making it easy to eat this heavier dish during the summer.

In the original recipe chef Samuelsson uses chicken breasts, golden raisins and red curry paste. I did not have these ingredients and used chicken thighs, and sofrito. Sofrito is a traditional base used in Latin cuisine made with cilantro, bell pepper and other ingredients giving this a major Latin flare.

Ingredients

• Chicken thighs
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 2 limes

Preparation

1. Skin 4 chicken thighs ( if you are using chicken breast you do not need to skin anything) season with salt & pepper, set aside.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons oil ( of choice) in a large pan/ pot big enough to hold 4 pieces of chicken and deep enough to hold 3 cups of liquid.
3. In heated oil, add 1 medium yellow onion chopped season with salt & pepper cook until onions lose color.
4. Add in tablespoon of minced garlic, cook for about 5 min. (If you burn it a little like I did lol it is ok, your sauce will just be darker)
5. Reduce heat and add curry paste or sofrito about 1 large tablespoon, stir and cook for about 2 min.
6. At this point you should move over your veg mix to the side of your pot, add another tablespoon of oil, let it heat and sear chicken about 3 mins per side and flip only once.
7. After chicken is seared and flipped add in 1 can of coconut milk, the zest of 1 lime and its juice, 1/2 cup of water, handful of golden raisin, 4 chopped mint leaves, and 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley. Season with salt & pepper.
8. Cook for 10 to 20 mins on medium heat.
9. Taste liquid, add zest of second lime if you feel it needs more lime flavor
10. Serve with starch of choice, I used white rice.

If you try this recipe please let me know! I would love to hear how it came out and if you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Until next time!