Coconut Chicken with Mango and Cashew Rice

Ingredients

• 700g boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 200ml chicken stock
• 2 lemongrass stalks, bruised
• 20g fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 3 garlic cloves, finely grated
• 400ml coconut milk
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp groundnut or vegetable oil
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• 300g jasmine rice
• 1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into 1.5cm chunks
• 80g cashew nuts
• 20g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 1 lime, juice only
• 6 spring onions, trimmed
• 1 tsp groundnut or vegetable oil
• 1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced, to serve
• Fresh coriander leaves, to finish
• 1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve
• Quick cucumber and red onion pickle, to serve
• Warm flatbreads, to serve
• Coconut yoghurt, to serve

Method

1. Rinse the jasmine rice under cold water until it runs clear — this washes off the surface starch and stops the grains clagging together. Cook to packet instructions, typically 300ml water brought to the boil, then covered and simmered on the lowest heat for 12 minutes until all the water is absorbed. Off the heat, lid on, leave to steam for 5 minutes.
2. While the rice cooks, toast the cashews in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 3–4 minutes, tossing often, until golden and smelling buttery. Tip onto a board, roughly chop and set aside.
3. Pat the chicken thighs dry — water means steam, and steam means no browning — and season generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat the oil in a wide stainless or cast-iron pan over a medium-high heat until it shimmers.
4. Sear the thighs in two batches, 3–4 minutes per side, until deeply golden. Crowd the pan and the heat drops, water comes out, and you'll boil the chicken instead of browning it. Lift the first batch onto a plate while the second goes in.
5. Return all the chicken to the pan and drop the heat to medium. Add the ginger, garlic and bruised lemongrass and stir around the thighs for 30 seconds, just until fragrant — burnt garlic turns the whole broth bitter, so watch it and don't let it go past pale gold.
6. Pour in the coconut milk and chicken stock, scraping up any sticky bits stuck to the base of the pan — that's flavour. Add the lime zest and fish sauce and bring to a gentle simmer.
7. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes until the chicken reads 74°C in the thickest thigh and the broth has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Fish out the lemongrass stalks.
8. While the chicken finishes, toss the spring onions in the oil with a pinch of salt. Lay them in a hot griddle pan or dry frying pan and cook for 2–3 minutes, turning once, until they have dark stripes down their length and have softened in the middle.
9. Squeeze the lime juice over the warm rice and fold through the mango, toasted cashews and chopped coriander. Taste and season — the rice is the bed for everything else, so it needs to taste of itself.
10. Stir the lime juice into the coconut broth off the heat. Taste the sauce — most of the salt comes from the fish sauce, but a final pinch ties it together. Adjust now, not at the table.
11. Spoon the mango and cashew rice into bowls, ladle the coconut chicken and broth alongside, and lay the charred spring onions across the top. Scatter with sliced red chilli and torn coriander leaves, set lime wedges on the rim, and bring the cucumber pickle, warm flatbreads and coconut yoghurt to the table.