This is one of my favourite meals although I sometimes replace the chicken with prawns.
Chicken in sweet red pepper sauce.
1 kg chicken meat, diced (breast, thigh etc)
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
2 1/2 cm cube gingerroot, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled
25 g blanched slivered almonds
4 large red sweet peppers, trimmed seeded, and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons salt
7 tablespoons vegetable oil
225 ml water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 Combine onions, ginger, garlic, almonds, peppers, cumin , coriander, turmeric, cayenne and salt in a food processor or blender. Blend until you have a smooth paste. 2 Put the oil in a large, wide non-stick pan and heat til hot. 3 Pour in all the paste from the food processor. 4 Stir and fry the paste for 10-12 minutes or until you can see the oil forming tiny bubbles around it. 5 Put the chicken, with the water and bring to a boil. 6 Cover, turn heat to ow and simmer gently for 25mins. 7 Stir a few times during this cooking period.
Served with Yellow aromatic rice.
2 cup long-grain rice; (or basmati)
2 2/3 cup water
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
4 whole cloves
1 1-inch cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
Put the rice in a bowl and wash in several changes of water, until the water is no longer cloudy. Drain. Pour 5 cups fresh water over the rice and let it soak for half an hour. Drain the rice in a sieve.
Combine the drained rice, 2-2/3 cups water, salt, and spices in a heavy pot and bring to a boil. Cover with a tight-fitting lid, turn heat to very low, and let simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let the pot rest, covered, for 10 minutes.
Remove the whole spices and fluff the rice with a fork before serving.