Coconut Chicken with Variations

As a follow up to a previous post on curry, here's a recipe for coconut chicken that's easy to make and absolutely delicious.

I love to borrow ingredients from other cultures and make what I called inspired dishes. This recipe for coconut chicken always gets rave reviews.

 

Ingredients:

1 package of hard creamed coconut

1 pack of boneless skinless chicken (breast or thigh) cut into 1 -2 inch pieces

½  tbsp. Turmeric

2 tsp salt

1 large clove of garlic

crushed chili peppers, to taste

Optional: 20-30 basil leaves (freshly washed and chopped with no stems). Don't used dried herbs.

Sauté fresh garlic in 2 tbsp. of plain cooking oil or coconut oil for about a minute on medium heat

Add salt and turmeric, chili and basil. Stir it into the oil and garlic.

Stir in chicken and cook over medium heat until firm

Melt the hard coconut cream into the pan using med-high heat (7 or 8)

Add 1.5 cups of water and simmer for 15 minutes. 

Serve with salad and basmati rice. You can also mix in cooked rice noodles instead of rice.

As an option, you can add most vegetables, including peppers, asparagus, fresh tomatoes, greens such as spinach, kale or arugula to the cooked coconut chicken. You can also add string beans if you like.