Coconut chilli chicken

This is a rapid fast and fun meal that you can make rapidly  and easily that taste really good. Now it is up to you what chicken you use but I prefer to use leg meat as it has more flavour compared to white breast meat. Now you can make this skin on or skin off the choice is yours and you do not have to worry too much over the preparation of the spices as you can just chop every thing really roughly and as long as it is all fresh it will taste great.

You will need.

3 stalks of lemongrass

50g/2oz fresh ginger

2 red chillies

2 cloves garlic

2 lime leaves

A bunch coriander

The juice of 2 limes

2 tbsp groundnut oil

200g/7oz very ripe tomatoes

2 tbsp fish sauce 

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

8 chicken thighs

400ml/14oz can coconut milk

Start with your spices, take your fresh lemongrass, split in two, and remove the little bit at the bottom where the roots used to be.  This can be tough when cooked so just cut out the v shaped base bit. Now chop it up then take your chillies your garlic and ginger and just chop all of that along with the lemon grass so you end up with a ruff chopped spices.

Take your lime leaves and slice them in to long thin strips and add that to the spices.  Then take your tomatoes and ruff chop them as well, and finally ruff chop you coriander. Now you have every thing ready you can get tour wok on the stove, as you are ready to cook.

Take your oil add that to the wok and let it get smoking hot.  Then throw in the chicken to brown it off.  Now if your chicken is still on the bone it will take longer to cook and the smaller it is the quicker it will cook so be aware of this and for the ultimate test cut in to it to see if it is cooked.

Once your chicken has browned off add the spices and the chopped tomatoes and let every thing cook together.  You want the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and chills to start working together releasing there flavours. Let the tomatoes start to cook down so you get them turning in to a pulp.

Then add the lime leaves, soy sauce, and fish sauce along with the coconut milk and turn down the heat a little and let every thing reduce a little.  If you find that you are cooking all the liquid away before you have your chicken cooked just add a little water. 

Finally once your chicken is cooked add the limejuice and the chopped coriander stir that in and then serve in to a blow along with some rice.

It is food like this that does take about 30 minutes from beginning to end that will make you wonder why you ever got a takeaway in the first place.