Chook Fest: Coronation Chicken

So what is Coronation Chicken? I first came upon this from a show called Supersizers by Sue Perkins and Giles Coren, a radio broadcaster and food writer. The show is fairly straightforward - they travel back in time and live for a week in a certain era or decade - yes, they also eat the food of that time. In one of the episodes where they Eat the Fifties, a dish called Coronation Chicken was made in honor of Queen Elizabeth's Coronation day in 1953. This is technically cold chicken with curry cream sauce and is eaten as a salad with cold rice. This was invented by food writer Constance Spry and chef Rosemary Hume.

Again, there are tons of versions of this dish - from the very simple to the very complicated but there are a few components in common - cooked chicken (can be roasted or poached), curry powder (from your normal curry powder to madras), some form of jam or chutney (commonly used are apricot or mango) and mayonnaise or cream. Mix all that together and you get Coronation Chicken.

Here's my take on this dish and to be honest, I surprised myself because I actually liked it.



Ingredients:

2 poached chicken breasts. I poached the chicken by adding some whole black peppercorns, a clove of garlic unpeeled and 1 dried bay leaf into some cold water in a saucepan, just enough to cover the chicken breasts. Place the saucepan on high heat and let it come to a boil. After 1 minute, turn the heat off and let it cool on the stove. Take the chicken out and slice to desired morsels.

Dressing:
1 minced shallot
2 tsps madras curry powder
2 tablespoons sliced sun dried tomatoes
4 tablespoons mango chutney
1/2 cups chicken broth from the poached chicken
1 tablespoon creme fraiche

Cook all the ingredients together in some olive oil over medium heat. Place 1/2 cups of chicken broth and reduce until half. Set aside to cool. Add the creme fraiche to the cooled mixture. Add the poached chicken. I served this with a bagel and some spinach leaves. This will be perfect with some salad leaves too or some cold rice.

This is a nice meal for big groups. Can be served warm or cold but I prefer this mixed with salad leaves. Very tasty and a bit one sweet side. The curry powder was not overpowering and has just the right kick. I think madras is the perfect curry to use here.