Citrus Chicken With Apricot, Peanuts & Mint
By: cardamom hills
Published: Monday, November 1, 2010 - 12:52am

Ingredients




3 Chicken breast fillets cut into thin strips
8 cups Dried apricots – chopped into small pieces and soaked in water for a few hours (drain when ready to cook)
3 cups Freshly Made Orange juice
1 cup Roasted Peanuts
3 sprigs Mint, leaves only, chopped
1/4 teaspoon Apple cider vinegar
3/4 tablespoon Sugar-
1 tablespoon Butter
Marinade for chicken:
1 teaspoon Freshly ground ginger paste
3 Green chilly (increase for more spicy)
1 tablespoon Lime juice
2 teaspoons Orange zest
Salt to taste

Preparation

1 Marinate chicken in listed ingredients and refrigerate for 15mins. 2 Meanwhile, melt butter in a large sauce pan. 3 Add orange juice, water drained from soaked apricots and sugar. 4 Let it simmer on a high flame. 5 When the quantity reduces to “ALMOST” half, add chicken and stir. 6 Now let the mixture cook with lid closed till it starts to thicken. 7 Open peanuts pack and empty it into the pan. 8 Mix well and switch heat off when consistence is as thick as in picture. 9 Garnish with chopped mint leaves and serve with jasmine rice or basmati.

About


I came across the apricot-chicken combination only very recently. Since, then it has been on my mind. This recipe just happened as I went hunting down the refrigerator. The question was what would taste good with apricot and chicken?? Well, a sauce with orange juice is what first came into my mind, next the crunch….nuts were on my mind…but which one…. Remembered a Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe that had chicken coated in peanuts. Mint just happen as I took some out to garnish tried eating a little with mint leaves and I was sure this dish would be unfinished without it. Jasmine rice will make a great accompaniment for this dish. Or you could just have it as one dish meal. I did thatJ. Don’t go for bread though. If you read on, you’ll find that I have not used any extra salt in the chicken except while marinating and salted peanuts. That would give enough flavour and you won’t need to use extra. Use freshly ground ginger for marinating chicken. ‘DON’T’ use store bought ginger paste. You can use olive oil instead of butter. Also, don’t opt out on the green chillies this time because the heat simply adds to the flavour. Strictly, use freshly made orange juice.