~Swahili Chicken~

Yum. My favorite food in the world=Curry dishes of all sorts. I was given a curry cookbook for Christmas from which I made this Swahili Chicken last night.  Every so often, I try to follow a recipe (and not just make it up)...and each time, I am oh-so-impressed with what following a recipe can do! Crazy.  Anyways, this recipe is awesome; it has a really different bite unlike any curry blend I've had before.  It was a super easy, one-bowl recipe.  The variety of Indian spices, lemon juice and yogurt gives the chicken great flavor and requires no added fat. Enjoy!

Swahili Chicken

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces

4 tsp finely grated ginger root (or 1.5 tsp ground ginger)
6 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp ground turmeric

1 T paprika

1 tsp ground cinnamon

8 T lemon juice

2 tsp ground cumin

1 T ground coriander

2 tsp dried red pepper flakes

1/2 cup plain yogurt

(I used soy yogurt for lactose free, optional=more yogurt than called for )

1 T honey

salt and pepper

1/4 bunch fresh parsley

Yogurt Dip

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 tsp cumin

DIRECTIONS

Place the chicken pieces in a large mixing bowl.  Mix together the remaining ingredients, (minus parsley and yogurt dip ingredients) season well, and pour over the chicken.  Mix well to combine, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for 6-8 hrs or overnight if time permits.

Place the chicken mixture in a shallow, lightly greased, ovenproof baking dish. Place parsley on top, and cook in a preheated oven at 300 degrees F for 1.5 hrs, covering the dish with foil for the last 30 minutes of cooking. 

Stir yogurt and cumin together to make yogurt dip. Set aside.

Serve with brown rice or flat bread, and yogurt dip on side for chicken.

Lastly, the chip-like food on the plate is made from udad-dal (lentil flour).  I ventured into an Indian food store a few weeks ago looking for spices; definitely a fun store to spend way too much time in-and any store that revolves around cooking is 10 x more exciting than going to a shopping mall to me:-)  These chips are served as an appetizer dipped in a yogurt sauce at my favorite restaurant, (in Boulder) Sherpas.  To prepare, heat in a skillet on both sides, and serve.  They are made up of lentil flour, a little oil and whole cumin.