Bombay Chicken and Cauli Pappadams from ‘Everyday Super Food’
Every week, Yahoo Food spotlights a cookbook that stands out from the rest. This week’s cookbook is Everyday Super Food: Recipes for a Healthier, Happier You by Jamie Oliver (Ecco), a chef, bestselling cookbook author, and star of numerous cooking shows. Read more about Yahoo Food’s Cookbook of the Week here.
Photograph: Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited
By Jamie Oliver
Bombay Chicken and Cauli Pappadams, Rice, and Spinach
Serves 2
Cumin and turmeric are great sources of iron, and teaming them with lemon juice like I’ve done here means our bodies can absorb that all-important iron really efficiently
½ cup brown rice
½ a small cauliflower (14 ounces)
½ a bunch of fresh mint (½ ounce)
6 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 lemon
1 heaping teaspoon each of ground turmeric, medium curry powder
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic
1¼-inch piece of fresh ginger
2 x 4-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 level teaspoon each of cumin seeds, black mustard seeds
4 uncooked pappadams
2 ounces baby spinach
1 fresh red chile
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Cook the rice in a pan of boiling salted water according to the package instructions. Chop the cauliflower into thin wedges and place in a sieve above the rice, then cover and steam for 15 minutes. Pick the mint leaves into a blender (reserving a few baby leaves). Add 3 tablespoons of yogurt, half the lemon juice, and a splash of water to the blender, then blitz for 1 minute until super-smooth and green. Decant into a nice dish and pop into the fridge for later.
Without washing the blender, add the remaining yogurt and lemon juice, the turmeric, curry powder, and balsamic. Crush in the garlic, then peel, finely chop, and add the ginger. Blitz until super-smooth to make a marinade, then pour into a large baking dish. Lightly score the chicken breasts to increase the surface area and toss in the marinade. When the time’s up on the cauliflower, tip it into the chicken dish, quickly toss together, sprinkle over the cumin and black mustard seeds, then place in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the cauli is gnarly.
When the rice is done, drain it, catching some of the water in the pan, then sit the sieve of rice back over the pan, cover, and place on the lowest heat to keep warm. One-by-one, puff up your dry pappadams in the microwave for around 30 seconds each. Slice and divide up the chicken, with the cauli, rice, spinach, and pappadams. Drizzle with the dressing, then finely slice and scatter over the chile. Finish with the baby mint leaves and tuck on in.
Reprinted with permission from Everyday Super Food by Jamie Oliver (Ecco).
More chicken recipes:
Chicken Traybake with Bitter Orange and Fennel from ‘Simply Nigela’
Fried Hot Chicken on White Bread with Pickle from ‘Nashville Eats’
Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe From ‘Indian Simmer’
