I was so excited to have received a copy of Melissa Joulwan's Well Fed 2! It really is a beautiful cookbook, but will the recipe's turn out as well as the pretty pictures promise? I figured the Taj Mahal Chicken was a great recipe to start my exploration of this cookbook.
This recipe has a few things that I typically exclude from recipes, but as the recipe is Whole30 approved, I decided to live a little and allow myself some applesauce and raisins. In fact, only two recipes in the book aren't Whole30 approved. This is my kind of cookbook.
I've actually made this recipe twice now. The first, I made for a friend and the second time, just for me. I gathered my ingredients, and got to work.
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| Imagine chicken thighs in this picture. |
A great suggestion Melissa makes for the preparation of this recipe is to put the chicken thighs in the freezer for a while before slicing it. This makes it easier to get thinner strips of chicken. While my chicken firmed up in the freezer, I cut up and measured my other ingredients. This dish comes together fairly quickly, so having everything measured and chopped is a good idea.
Once my chicken was sliced, I added it to my 12 inch saute pan to brown on both sides.
I removed the chicken when it was brown, and added the vegetables to the pan to soften. Once they are, you basically add the remaining ingredients and the chicken back to the pan except for the coconut milk.
After simmering for 20-30 minutes, you add the coconut milk to the pan and simmer a few minutes more.
Here's my plate.
Accessibility & Cost of Ingredients: You should be able to find everything you need at your "big box" grocery store.
Preparation & Cooking Time: I chilled the chicken for 10 minutes per the recipe instructions. While I did that, I prepped the other ingredients. It took me about 5 minutes to slice the chicken. I was so excited to dig into this dish that I completely forgot to look at my timer when I finished. It did not take longer than the projected time given by Melissa of 1 hour cooking time. I think it probably took me about 45 minutes to cook this.
Clean Up: If you are one of those people out there that has a kitchen helper that shares the cooking/clean up responsibilities with you, I am so jealous. The first time I made this dish, I actually took all of my prepped ingredients over to a friend's house to cook for him. Not only did he help me stir but he insisted on cleaning up. I could get used to that. The second time I made this I was back to my usual one woman show in the kitchen. Everything except my saute pan went into the dish washer. The clean up was easy but not as easy as someone else doing it.
The Paleo Review: Thumbs Up! Yum! This recipe produces a dish that is rich in flavor without that much time in the kitchen. You may need to cook this once or twice before you figure out how much curry powder you like best. The first time I made it, I used a little too much curry for my taste, but the second time after adjusting down, the dish was divine. The sweetness of the peppers, raisins and applesauce against the fragrant smoky curry powder was lovely. The first time, I served this with spaghetti squash.
I found that Melissa has posted Taj Mahal Turkey recipe where she says you can sub chicken that appears to be the same as the recipe in Well Fed 2.
Have any of you gotten a copy of Well Fed 2 yet? Any suggestions for recipes to try out?