Peanut Coated Chicken Thighs With Coconut Sauce
Ingredients:
Sauce
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp fresh minced ginger
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 Tbsp masala spice mixture
1½ cups dry white wine
3 cups chicken stock
1 tin unsweetened coconut milk
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
1 Tbsp honey or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups flour
3 Tbsp masala spice mix
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground pepper
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 cups lightly toasted peanuts, finely chopped (in a food or hand processor)
2 Lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
Olive oil for sautéing
Directions:
Sweat garlic, onion and ginger in a saucepan over low heat. Add masala and white wine and continue sweating until wine has almost evaporated. Raise heat, add chicken stock and coconut milk and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in cilantro and mint and season with salt, pepper and honey to taste. Strain into a small pot and set aside.
While sauce is cooking combine flour, masala spice, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish beat eggs, yogurt and buttermilk until combined. Combine crushed peanuts with 2 1/2 cup of masala flour mixture and place in yet another shallow dish. Dredge chicken thighs in flour mixture, roll in egg mixture than finally in peanut mixture and let rest on a baking sheet. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté thighs about 8 –10 minutes per side or until crispy and cooked through. Alternatively you could bake the thighs in a 350F oven for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with the heated coconut sauce along with or atop steamed long grain rice.
The term sweat in cooking means to cook foods over gentle heat, usually covered or partly covered, until they release their moisture. Vegetables, meats, and seafood are often sweated when making soups, stews, and sauces so that the foods release their juices into the pan and surrounding liquid. Sweating is the opposite of sautéing.
