A delicious Olympic inspired recipe with an Indian twist from Sindhu by Atul Kochhar. This Bahia-style chicken stew recipe is authentic and subtly scented but incorporates the simplicity, freshness and healthiness of the Brazilian diet.

Baiana Chicken – Bahia-style chicken stew

Serves 4

Ingredients

Spice paste

6 black peppercorns

6 coriander seeds

1tsp ground turmeric

½ pimento malagueta or red hot chilli, deseeded

10g root ginger

20g dried salt shrimps

Coconut Cream

900ml coconut water

240g young (green) coconut meat

420g dried coconut meat

500g boneless chicken thighs

5g crushed garlic

Juice of ½ lime

3 pimentas-de-cheiro or other mild chillies

Salt

30g sliced red pepper

20ml rapeseed oil

20g sliced green pepper

30g chopped onion, plus 30g sliced onion

5g coriander leaves, roughly chopped

30g chopped tomato, plus 30g sliced tomato

5g spring onions, finely chopped

Method:

  • First make the spice paste, process the black peppercorns, turmeric, ginger, coriander seeds, chilli and dried shrimp in a blender or food processor until a smooth paste forms.
  • To make a coconut cream, warm the coconut water in a saucepan. Put it in a blender with the dried coconut meat and process until the coconut pieces are very finely chopped. Strain through a fine sieve, and then return it to the blender. Add the young (green) coconut meat, blend until smooth and creamy and set aside.
  • Season the chicken with the lime juice and add a little salt and set aside.
  • In a large clay pot, heat the rapeseed oil over a medium heat and sauté the chopped onion, chopped tomato, garlic, pimentas-de-cheiro and 1 tablespoon of the spice paste until the vegetables are softened.
  • Stir in 1.1 litres of the coconut cream, bring to a simmer, then add the chicken and cook for15-18 minutes.
  • Add the red and green peppers and the tomato and onion slices and cook for a further 5 minutes, sprinkle with the coriander and spring onions before serving.

Tips: substitute a good-quality shop-bought coconut milk for the coconut cream recipe if you can’t find young (green) coconut meat to make it fresh.

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