Re-Inventing The Wheel

থাইম, মধু ও সৃরাচা দিয়ে মুরগি  

Chicken with Honey, Thyme & Sriracha

Serving challenges when you have no dining table! 

I discovered how well Sriracha and thyme compliment each other by accident. I was basting some chicken in thyme-butter one day, and the Sriracha was just sitting there on the counter...calling to me. I added some to the frying pan, purely because I always love a little heat in my food. I realised the combination was a success with my first mouthful, and made a mental note to try it again in the future. Fast forward to early 2018, and I started to make mom's chicken ketchup curry, only to realise there was no tomato ketchup at home. I quickly decided substitute in Sriracha, and as soon as I did I recalled my previous positive experience with thyme. 

I wondered how to incorporate the herb into my curry, eventually deciding to stir it in towards the end of the cooking process. The thyme didn't impart a pronounced enough flavour in this first try. In subsequent iterations, I've also scattered an extra portion into the pot before taking the dish off the heat. All in all, I end up using quite a bit of thyme because it's easily overpowered by the other spices. The herb gives the dish quite a nice after-kick of flavour, but I do recognise this is probably a rather esoteric, acquired taste. I don't think I'd be a fan had I not learned to love thyme while living in the UK. Of course, feel free to leave the thyme out completely if you so desire, and the end result will be a strong, garlicky version of my mom's original curry.  

Ingredients:

• 750.00 g of chicken breast
• 1.00 white onion
• 1.00 red onion
• 1.00 tablespoon of garlic paste
• 1.00 tablespoon of ginger paste
• Chilli powder, to taste (I used 1.00 tablespoon)
• 6 or 7 cardamoms
• 4 or 5 2.00 cm pieces of cinnamon
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I used 1.50 tablespoons)
• 2.50 tablespoons of Sriracha sauce
• 2.00 palmfuls fresh thyme, tough branches removed
• Salt, to taste

Method:

• Roughly chop the fresh thyme and set aside
• Cut the chicken breast into bite-sizes pieces, and set aside in a bowl. Thoroughly wash hands and any utensils after handling the meat 
• In a kettle, boil 500.00 ml of water
• Quarter the white onion, then pop into a food processor or blender to make onion paste. Alternatively, grate the quarters into a bowl to achieve a similar result
• Mix the garlic, ginger and chilli powder into the onion paste
• Place a large non-stick saucepan on medium heat, adding 2.00 tablespoons of cooking oil
• Once the oil is hot, add the onion-garlic-ginger mixture and fry for 9 to 10 minutes. Add some of the previously boiled water to the mixture if if dries out too much. Do this in small batches, a tablespoon at a time 

Chicken breast and hard spices,
just added to the pastes

• Add the chicken breast to the pastes, along with the cardamom, cinnamon and black pepper
• Raise the heat to high, and stir continuously to mix the pastes, chicken and spices.
• Cook for a couple of minutes, then add about 250.00 ml of the previously boiled water to the saucepan
• Allow the dish to come to boil, then turn the heat back down to medium. Leave the saucepan uncovered, and allow to cook for around 10 minutes
• While the chicken is cooking, finely slice the red onion
• Place a non-stick frying pan on medium heat, and add 1.00 tablespoon of cooking oil
• Once the oil is hot, add the onions. Leave to fry on medium heat for a couple of minutes, then turn the heat down low and cover
• Let the onions cook this way until the soften and start to caramelise. This should take a little over 5 minutes

Caramelised red onion and thyme,
just added to the dish

• Once the chicken has cooked for around 10 minutes, add the caramelised onion and 1.00 palmful of chopped thyme
• Stir to mix in, then add about 100.00 ml of the previously boiled water to the dish. Leave to cook uncovered for around 10 minutes
• Add 1.00 tablespoon of honey and 2.50 tablespoons of sriracha sauce to the saucepan, and cook for a final 5 or 6 minutes

All done and off the heat!

• Turn the heat off, and sprinkle the remaining chopped thyme over the chicken. Mix in, then cover and let the dish sit like this until serving
• Serve warm with rice or flat breads

Additional Info:

If you have no access to fresh thyme, substitute in two teaspoons of dried thyme. This will give the dish a more gentle flavour.