Turmeric Spiced Chicken with Sweetcorn Pancakes and Avocado Recipe
I do have a cookery book obsession. My collection is extensive; with some well thumbed and some, frankly, untouched. There’s nothing worse than buying a disappointing cookery book, but if you find one with a whole host of amazing ideas, it’s like finding a new best friend. In my humble opinion, Diana Henry’s books are never disappointing with my particular favourite being A Bird in the Hand. It’s all chicken recipes, which suits me perfectly, given the amount of foul we eat, and the recipe I’ve made the most is this Turmeric Spiced Chicken with Sweetcorn Pancakes and Avocado.
This is one of those handy recipes which is simple enough for a family supper but also stylish enough to impress guests with. Given the current pandemic, guests are a distant memory, so you’ll just have to lap up the compliments from your *ungrateful* family members. The Turmeric Spiced Chicken is *eek* so moist, lightly spiced and moreish. Serve this on my Sweetcorn Pancakes and Diana’s lovely smashed avocado mixture, featuring coriander, cream and sherry vinegar, and it’s a complete meal. The avocado adds some colour and creaminess against the spiced chicken whilst the pancakes make a vibrant change from new potatoes. If you can’t be arsed to pancake, however, spuds will suffice.
I’ve made this dish so often the pages of my recipe book are also turmeric spiced. For me, this is the ultimate compliment to the writer, if a little messy.
Here’s the line up for this not complicated at all chicken dish. For the pancakes, please see my lovely post for all the details. Regarding the chicken, I went for bone-in skin-on thighs, but legs would also be good. The spices in the mix are simply turmeric, hot paprika and cumin, so nothing you won’t already have in the back of your cupboards.
Start by pre heating your oven to 170 degrees and oiling a roasting tin. Add the chicken and season well.
Make the spice mix by mixing to a paste the turmeric, cumin, paprika, olive oil, soft butter, sugar and mustard.
Liberally slather your chicken pieces with the paste, getting into all the crevices.
Bake for around 40 minutes or until it’s golden, cooked through and smelling so tempting. This gives you just enough time to make the pancakes and mix the avocado.
For the pancakes, beat the eggs, milk and flour until you have a smooth batter. Add the chilli, coriander and sweetcorn along with plenty of seasoning, stir well, then you’re ready to fry.
This batch makes 8 good sized pancakes. Keep them warm while you finish the batch.
For the avocado mixture, peel and stone the avocados, scrape into a bowl and lightly mash; don’t annihilate it, just a gentle crushing.
Gently fold in the vinegar, lime juice, cream, fresh coriander and salt and pepper. If your lime is super juicy, just use half, as you don’t want to drown the flavours.
And now it’s time for this all to come together into a plate of loveliness. Serve your turmeric chicken on two sweetcorn pancakes with a generous spoonful of the avocado mixture on the side.
Can I just say that is a glass of pale rosé, it’s just in a pink glass.
I would love to lay claim to Diana Henry being a relative of mine as she shares my maiden name, but sadly, she’s not. So I will just have to pretend and to do my best to emulate her lovely work.
Lucy x
Turmeric Spiced Chicken with Sweetcorn Pancakes and Avocado Recipe
Serves 3 to 4
You will just need a roasting tin and pans for this
Chicken
6 to 8 chicken thighs, bone in skin on, or legs will also work
3 teaspoons turmeric
3 teaspoons hot paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons soft brown sugar
35g soft butter
3 teaspoons English mustard
Salt and pepper
Avocado
2 ripe avocados
4 teaspoons sherry vinegar, I used white balsamic as that’s what I had
Juice of one lime, only use half if it’s a big juicy lime
4 tablespoons double cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
Salt and pepper
2 eggs
4 tablespoons milk
75g self raising flour
250g frozen sweetcorn or a drained 326g tinned sweetcorn
1/2 chopped red chilli, more or less if you prefer
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander, plus more for garnish
Plenty of salt and pepper
Oil for frying
Fresh chopped coriander to garnish
Pre heat your oven to 170 degrees fan assisted and oil a large roasting tray.
Put your chosen chicken pieces into the roasting tin and season well with salt and pepper. Prepare the spice mix by stirring together the turmeric, paprika, cumin, sugar, olive oil, soft butter and mustard. When you have a well mixed paste, spread this onto the chicken pieces, ensuring you cover every nook and cranny. Put the chicken into your pre heated oven for around 40 minutes or until the chicken is golden, cooked through and smelling divine.
While this is cooking make the sweetcorn pancakes. Take a large mixing bowl and crack in the two eggs. Beat in the milk and the flour until you have a smoothish batter. Stir in the sweetcorn, chopped red chilli and fresh coriander, season generously and stir well.
To cook the pancakes, heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan and add a heaped tablespoon of the sweetcorn pancake batter. Cook until bubbling on the top side then flip over and cook for another 2 minutes or so on the other side.Keep the cooked pancakes warm in a low oven while you finish the batch of batter. This will make 8 pancakes.
For the avocado, peel and stone them then, in a small bowl, crush them slightly with a fork. Don’t totally smash them, you want some structure. Add the vinegar, lime juice, cream and coriander and some salt and pepper. Stir to just fold everything together, you don’t want to over mix and get mush, just lightly blend.
To serve plate up 2 sweetcorn pancakes, top with the spiced chicken and serve a generous spoonful of the avocado on the side. Garnish with some fresh coriander.
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