Baked Chicken in Cardamom-Coconut Ragu

Today's entry was my first blog post on my sister’s site, "A Family That Eats Together." While she's busy raising baby #2, she's taken a mental (not culinary) hiatus.

But it was very exciting to be able to contribute to her exceptional blog! So until she's up and running again, this one's for you, sis.

Ready for Lunch
the Next Day

Baked Chicken in Cardamom-Coconut Ragu
(Accented with a yellow/red bell pepper-and Vidalia onion-curried dressing)

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 20 mintues
Cooking Time: 40-60 minutes

Ingredients

For the chicken baking dish
4 chicken thighs (boneless will cook at 375 in 40 mins; bone in, you cook 425 for 60 mins)
1c coconut milk (don’t use light coconut milk)
1c pureed tomato (canned works great, but you can use chopped fire roasted tomatoes)
1 ½ T cumin seeds
½ T celery seeds
1T coriander seeds
4t paprika
1" to 2" inches of grated ginger (approx ½” in circumference)
2 chopped Thai finger peppers or similar peppers
1t salt
6 cardamom seed pods (whole or cracked, if you like)
5 cloves
3-5 garlic cloves peeled and chopped

For the dressing/topping
4-6 chopped whole fire roasted tomatoes
¼ – ½ c of ghee or if you prefer, use first-press peanut oil will give you the best flavor, but you could use regular canola if you don’t particularly care
½ T cumin seeds
1 ½ c Vidalia onion sliced wafer thin
1 chopped Thai finger pepper
½ t ground turmeric
½ t paprika
½ t black mustard seeds
1 ½ red or yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced or cut into squares
Chopped topping of cilantro or green onion tops

Preparation:

Toast the Spices in the Pan Over Medium to Low Heat

For the Chicken—

1. Toast the cumin, coriander and celery seeds for about 2-5 mins in a skillet; pour into a coffee grinder and turn into a powder. Pour into baking dish (If you don’t have the time, just use pre-ground spices).
2. Roll/dredge the chicken thighs in the spices. Remove from baking dish, put onto the back of the lid.
3. Combine the coconut milk into all the remaining spice ingredients into the baking dish. Fold the chicken into the liquid, cover, and put in oven at 425 for 45 minutes to an hour if they are bone-in.

Make the dressing—

Dredged Chicken

1. Heat the ghee over medium-high heat, add in the mustard seeds until they begin to pop.
2. Add in cumin seeds on a lower heat, so the mustard seeds do not burn. 
3. Then add in the onions and pepper at the immediate moment the seeds have NOT yet burned. 
4. Carmelize for about 5 minutes on medium-low
5. Add in the chopped tomatoes and all the juice from the tomatoes that comes out or add in a little water if there isn’t much juice. I added in about ¼c of the tomato water from the can that I’d used for the chicken. 
6. Add in the bell peppers and cook until soft. 
7. Season with salt and pepper.

Finish the dish—

1. Pull chicken out of the oven, open lid, top the chicken in the baking dish with all of the dressing. Then top with cilantro or chopped green onion tops. 
2. You can leave on the stove with the heat off for the night, I did. The juices and flavors should meld nicely.
3. Serve over a bed of basmati rice.

Were it not for my Camera,
This Picture Would Convey Just a Beautiful Final Product

Matthew's Famous Reheating Tips for Office Gourmands™
Ever wonder how to effectively reheat last night's dinner in a microwave? So often microwaves can destroy food. You pop it in for 4 minutes, walk away, hope for the best. This is the way of failure.

For your lunch the next day at the office: you should consider heating the chicken piece(s) first in a series of short "zaps:"

• 30 seconds on high covered with an inverted bowl. 
• Wait a full minute. 
• 60 seconds on high. 
• Wait a full minute. Remove the chicken piece(s) from the plate, Lay the plate with basmati rice. 
• Position the pre-warmed chicken on top of the cold rice. 
• Cover as you would envision serving the meal. Then cook on high for 1-2 minutes or until the sauce begins to spatter the inside of the inverted bowl. 
• Be careful! The inverted bowl will be extremely hot inside. 
• Instead of lifting that lid, let this sit in the microwave for about 1-3 minutes further. Go check email.
• Depending on the strength of the microwave you are using, you may need to continue heating for 1-3 minutes for the ragu to warm completely through. 
• Then pull out, let sit on the table, and rest for 30 seconds. Devour.

Chef’s note: To simplify the recipe, ya know, you could just cut out all the toasting of the spices and buy powdered, dry spices. I just happen to like toasting spices in a skillet; it makes my house smell amazing. My upstairs neighbors all talk about how the house we share smells like a fine dining restaurant! (Or a fragrant Indian restaurant) And I’m a sucker for the compliments.

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