Yesterday was Sunday. Day of rest. Put the feet up and reflect on the week’s achievements. My reflection or more accurately speaking, realisation fell upon alcohol. Having had a few (3 drinks damn it 3!) the night before, I came to the conclusion that bottles should come with another health warning stating ‘half recommended serving size if 30yrs+’. Ropey Sunday….. Anyway, I managed to organize myself into the kitchen to cook dinner and decided to buck the trend of the traditional Sunday roast and opted to go Thai. I settled on a slimmer variation of the coconutty broth by following a recipe from chef Gizzi’s book ‘Skinny Weeks and Weekend Feasts’. I substituted the peanut butter for all natural Keen Almond Butter and scattered chopped, roasted almonds to compliment further. It was delicious and didn’t taste skinny at all served with wholegrain rice and spring onion slivers. Definitely a keeper – Thai Sundays are staying!
Ingredients List
2 chicken thighs, skin on and bone removed
1 tsp curry powder
a good pinch of sea salt
olive oil spray
30g Thai yellow curry paste (I used green and it was fine)
200g half fat coconut milk
200ml chicken stock
1 tbsp peanut butter (I used almond butter)
1 tbsp palm sugar (I used dark muscavado)
1 tbsp fish sauce
5 lime leaves
120g fresh cooked brown rice
1/2 small cucumber, deseeded and cut into matchsticks
4 spring onions, cut into matchsticks
a handful of beansprouts
1 tbsp of chopped toasted peanuts (or almonds)
a small handful each of fresh coriander and Thai basil leaves
Method
Rub the chicken thighs with the curry powder and salt, then spritz gently with olive oil. Set aside.
To make the sauce, spritz a little oil into the bottom of a pan over a moderate heat. Add the curry paste and fry for 2 minutes. Pour over the coconut milk and chicken stock and add the peanut butter or almond butter, sugar, fish sauce and lime leaves. Bring to the boil then turn down and leave to simmer for 5 minutes. Keep warm.
Heat a griddle pan until smoking. Lay the chicken thighs into the pan skin side down and lower the heat to medium. Grill for 4-5 minutes until the skin is crispy and lightly charred, then turn over and cook for a further 4-5 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside to rest on a plate for a few minutes. Once rested, cut the thigh meat into thick slices, pouring any excess cooking juices into the curry sauce.
Divide the rice between bowls, then top each with the chicken, sauce, cucumber, spring onions, beansprouts and nuts. Scatter over the herbs and serve.
Sharon Duffin Photography 