Chicken Tinga Rice

Ingredients

• 650g boneless skinless chicken thighs, diced
• 150ml hot chicken stock
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 onion, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp runny honey
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chipotle paste
• 300g basmati rice, rinsed
• 15g unsalted butter
• 1 lime, zested
• 4 tbsp Greek yogurt
• 15g coriander, roughly chopped
• Crusty bread, to serve
• Dressed green salad, to serve

Method

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large deep frying pan over a medium-high heat. Pat the chicken dry and season generously with salt and pepper — water means steam, and steam means no browning. Fry in two batches for 5 minutes until deeply golden; all at once and the pan crowds, water comes out, and you've stewed the chicken instead of searing it. Lift onto a plate.
2. Add the remaining oil to the pan and cook the onion and red pepper for 8 minutes until soft and starting to catch at the edges. Stir in the garlic, chipotle paste and smoked paprika and bloom for 60 seconds until fragrant — watch the garlic, 30 seconds is plenty before it threatens to burn and turn the whole dish bitter. Raw paprika tastes dusty; bloomed it tastes of itself.
3. Return the chicken to the pan with the chopped tomatoes, hot chicken stock and honey. The stock is what breaks the tomatoes down so they taste of summer fruit, not tin. Simmer gently for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick and glossy and the chicken shreds easily with a fork.
4. While the tinga cooks, melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, stir in the rinsed rice and lime zest for 1 minute until the grains smell nutty, then add 540 ml boiling water and a generous pinch of salt. Cover and simmer on the lowest heat for 12 minutes, then rest off the heat, lid on, for 5 minutes — the steam finishes the grains.
5. Taste the tinga and adjust now, not at the table — it should be smoky and tomatoey with gentle warmth from the chipotle. A final squeeze of lime juice off the heat lifts the smoke and cuts the richness. Taste again, season again.
6. Fluff the rice with a fork and pile into bowls. Spoon the shreddy chicken tinga over the top, add a generous dollop of Greek yoghurt, scatter with the chopped coriander, and tuck a lime wedge alongside for squeezing at the table.