Ixta Belfrage’s Coconut Chicken with Charred Okra
Like all recipes from Ixta Belfrage, this dish of chicken drumsticks in a rich coconut sauce is layered with different flavours and plenty of intrigue. Don't be intimidated by the longer ingredient lists - it's a deceptively easy recipe to cook and delivers an accomplished plate of food in return.
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Introduction
Chicken and okra is a combination that can be found in many different cuisines – Indian, Chinese, West African, Creole, to name but a few. In Brazil, frango com quiabo (chicken with okra) is a typical dish from the state of Minas Gerais, with roots in West African cooking (okra is native to West Africa and was brought to Brazil during the slave trade. This version is inspired by (but very different to) the classic dish. Untraditionally, it features coconut milk in the sauce and coffee in the marinade, and rather than cooking the okra in the sauce (which makes it soft and slimy), I char it and serve it on top to preserve its crunch.
Ingredients
| 8 | chicken drumsticks |
| 1 | Scotch bonnet chilli, whole (optional) |
| For the sauce: | |
|---|---|
| 1 tbsp | olive oil |
| 1 tsp | Urfa chilli |
| 1 tsp | ground coffee |
| 1 tsp | fine sea salt |
| ½ tsp | smoked paprika |
| About 20 twists of | freshly cracked pepper |
| For the marinade: | |
| 1 x 400g tin of | full-fat coconut milk |
| 150g | sweet cherry tomatoes |
| 1 | red bell pepper, deseeded and quartered (170g) |
| 3 small | garlic cloves, peeled |
| 5g | fresh ginger, peeled |
| 1 | Scotch bonnet chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (or a milder chilli if you prefer) |
| 2 tbsp | runny honey (or maple/agave syrup) |
| 1 tbsp | red palm oil or coconut oil |
| 1½ tsp | fine sea salt |
| 1 tsp | rice vinegar |
| ½ tsp | medium curry powder |
| ¼ tsp | smoked paprika |
| ¼ tsp | ground turmeric |
| About 50 twists of | freshly cracked pepper |
| To serve: | |
| 140g | okra, halved at an angle |
| olive oil | |
| 15g | picked fresh coriander leaves |
| 15g | spring onions, green ends thinly sliced |
| 2 | limes, halved |
| rice or flatbreads |
Method
Put the chicken and all the marinade ingredients into a large bowl and mix very well to coat the chicken evenly.
Put all the sauce ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth.
Heat a 26cm-wide high-sided pan, for which you have a lid, on a high heat. Once hot, add the chicken drumsticks, spaced apart as much as possible. Fry for about 8 minutes, turning every 2 minutes until browned all over.
Pour the sauce into the pan and mix so all the chicken drumsticks are coated. Add the whole Scotch bonnet (if using), cover with a lid and cook on high for 5 minutes. Lower the heat all the way down and cook for another 40 minutes, until the chicken is very soft. Leave to rest for 10 minutes. Squeeze the Scotch bonnet into the sauce to release its flavour (if using).
Meanwhile, heat a frying pan on a high heat. Toss the okra with a little oil and fine salt, then add to the hot pan. Cook for about 6 minutes, turning a few times until charred all over. In a separate bowl, toss the charred okra with the coriander and spring onions.
Squeeze the juice of ½ a lime over the chicken, top with the okra and herbs and serve with rice or flatbreads and the rest of the limes.
Note: The marinade will make the pan a bit smoky, so make sure to open windows and turn on the extraction.
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