Lemony Chicken with Fresh Coriander : IHCC Potluck

"November Potluck" is this week's theme at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), where we are currently cooking from Donna Hay's recipes. For this monthly Potluck theme, we are however, free to select any recipes from our previous featured chefs, and for this week, I'm cooking with Madhur Jaffrey.

Are you a fan of fresh corianders? I am. I really like eating this herb veggie, either used in cooking or fresh as a garnish, which I would usually use heaps of it. So when I saw this recipe of Madhur Jafrrey's, using fresh corianders, and lots of it, I knew that I just had to make this dish! Especially so when I read an excerpt from the recipe that says : 

"Taken from the expanded new edition of her classic best-selling book, Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking, this is the recipe that Jaffrey says took the spice out of a major city in England. As she explains it : "My new book was first published in England, by the BBC. Shortly after it came out, The Manchester Guardian ran a story which said that the city had run out of fresh spices : Everyone was making Lemony Chicken with Coriander"! 

Curiosity got the better of me, and I just had to try this popular dish!

Lemony Chicken with Fresh Corianders

A big bunch of coriander leaves and tender stems goes into the dish.

The roots with the bottom stems stills attached, do not waste these! These can be frozen, wash them clean thoroughly, dry them and place in a zip-lock bag, keep in the freezer. Great for Thai recipes, which uses these extremely fragrant roots in many of the recipes. I have one Thai recipe which I've wanted to try, and these will come in handy!

This is a fairly easy dish to prepare. Chicken pieces are browned in a little oil and kept aside. Minced garlic are sauteed till light brown, add the ginger paste, stir and add in the chopped corianders, cumin powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, chopped jalapeno, salt and stir for a minute. The fragrance of the coriander and the spices are extremely aromatic at this point. Add in the chicken pieces, some water and lemon juice to taste. Stir, bring to boil, cover pan, turn heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, turn chicken pieces over and simmer for another 15 minutes. 

Note : I have however used a little extra of all the spices, like I always do, as I love dishes like this with bold flavours and usually with a little more sauce or gravy.

The dish should be fairly dry with the chicken pieces coated with the coriander sauce.

Very nice eaten with white rice. This is a fairly mild dish, the amount of chiili or cayenne powder can be increased for a spicier dish. The next time when I make this again, I would skip the frying of the chicken and cooked it directly into the sauce instead, it's just that I prefer the chicken meat to be more tender and soaked up all the flavours from the spices. And yes, this is one dish that I would make again.

Lemony Chicken with Fresh Coriander
(adapted from here)
2 - 1" cubes fresh ginger root, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup water
1135gm chicken breasts - skinned (half a chicken + 2 drumsticks)
5 cloves garlic, minced
200gm cilantro, minced (250gm)
1/2 jalapeno, minced (1 whole jalapeno)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (1/2 tsp chilli powder)
2 teaspoons cumin powder (3 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon coriander powder (1-1/2 teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (3/4 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice (juice from half a lemon)

Put the ginger and 1/4 cup water into a blender or processor. Blend until you have a paste.

Put the oil in a wide, heavy, preferably nonstick pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in as many chicken pieces as pan will hold in a single layer, and brown on both sides. Remove the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon and put them in a bowl. Brown all the chicken pieces this way.

Add the garlic to the hot oil. As soon as the pieces turn a medium-brown colour, turn heat to medium and pour in the ginger paste. Stir-fry it for a minute. Now add the fresh coriander, jalapeno, cayenne, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and salt. Stir and cook for a minute.

Put in all the chicken pieces as well as any liquid that might have accumulated in the chicken bowl. Add 2/3 cup water and the lemon juice. Stir and bring to a boil. Cover tightly, turn heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes.

Turn the chicken pieces over. Cover again and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is tender. If the sauce is too thin, uncover the pan and boil some of it away over a slightly higher heat.

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This post is linked to I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). Do drop by IHCC to see what my friends are cooking for this week's Potluck Theme.

And I'm sharing this with :

See Ya In The Gumbo @ Ms. enPlace