Eastern Adventures in a Tiny Kitchen: Recepe #7: Chicken Sauté with Lemon

This is a take on the classic Turkish dish güvec̹te pilic̹li bamya. No I have no idea how to pronounce that! Normally it contains okra but my okra was not looking so great so I skipped it. It's delicious served with bread to mop up the sauce and yoghurt to cut through some of the spice.

Chicken Sauté with Lemon
(Printable Version)
Adapted from Turkish Cooking by Ghillie Bas̹an
Serves 4

good sized knob of butter
2-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 small free-range chicken, trimmed of excess fat and cut into quarters
2 small yellow onions, quartered and cut into fine slices
2 small red onions, quartered and cut into fine slices
6-8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3-4 mixed color chilis, finely sliced
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried coriander
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp tomato paste (purée)
2 14oz cans chopped tomatoes with juice
juice from 1-2 lemons
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2-4 tablespoons fresh coriander, roughly chopped
thick plain yoghurt, to serve

Heat the olive oil and melt the butter in a large frying pan or wok. Add the chicken pieces.

Brown thoroughly on all sides.

Once chicken has been thoroughly browned remove from pan. Add the onions, garlic, peppers and fennel seeds to the pan. Stir in the sugar.

Sauté until onions begin to soften and change color, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and chopped tomatoes. Stir through. Add 2/3 cup water. Stir and allow the mixture to come to a simmer.

Add the chicken pieces and baste with the sauce. Cover pan and cook for about 15-20 minutes, occasionally rotating the chicken pieces so they cook evenly.

Next add the lemon juice. Cover pan again and allow to cook gently for a further 10-15 minutes. Again, rotate the chicken pieces as necessary. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and place on a serving dish. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander. Serve with bread and yoghurt.