We’ve switched to low-fat foods but are we any healthier? You have to be eating the right type of fat for long-term good health. Award-winning health and cookery writer Nicola Graimes’s new book The Right Fat presents over 50 delicious and vibrant recipes with easy-to-understand nutritional advice. Here’s her spiced yoghurt-braised chicken recipe.
by Nicola Graimes
The lightly spiced yogurt curry sauce keeps the chicken beautifully moist and flavoursome during cooking. I prefer to use chicken thighs on the bone in this dish as they add another layer of nutrients to the sauce, including some omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, collagen, calcium, iron, zinc and magnesium. The Indian spicing lends itself to a side of brown basmati rice.
Serves 4
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 10 minutes
Saturated Fat 15.2g
Unsaturated Fat 11.6g
Calories 463kcal per serving
INGREDIENTS
20g/3⁄4 oz/11⁄2 tbsp butter or ghee
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4cm/11⁄2 in piece fresh ginger, cut into matchsticks
1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed 2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp garam masala
600g/1 lb 6 oz/23⁄4 cups Greek-style yogurt
8 skinless chicken thighs on the bone
125g/41⁄2 oz baby spinach leaves
squeeze of lemon juice
1 red jalapeño chilli, thinly sliced
1 handful coriander (cilantro) leaves
sea salt and black pepper
METHOD
Heat a large casserole over a medium heat. Add the butter or ghee and when melted stir in the onion. Cover with a lid and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes until softened. Reduce the heat slightly, add the garlic, ginger and spices and cook for a further minute.
Stir in the yogurt and 100ml/31⁄2 fl oz/7 tbsp water, then add the chicken thighs. Spoon the sauce over and when it just starts to bubble, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken to a warm plate and cover to keep warm.
Add the spinach and lemon juice to the pan and cook, turning the spinach with tongs until wilted, for about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the sauce topped with the chicken, adding any juices to the plate, and finish with chilli and coriander leaves.
You’ll find the spiced yoghurt-braised chicken and more delicious recipes in The Right Fat by Nicola Graimes, out now. Also available: The Right Carb.
Photograph by Haarala Hamilton.
