This is one of my favourite meals when you've got friends coming over. Spicy chicken with Guacamole, pickled vegetables, fragrant rice and all the accompaniments for a fajita. A lot of the work can be done before hand and finished at the end, and it looks and tastes amazing.
Recipe for 6
12 Chicken thighs *see poached chicken thighs in techniques*
Wraps (plain)
Basmati rice
Tin of chopped tomatoes
Mild cheddar/Lancashire grated
Sour cream
Lemon
2 ripe avocado
2 onions
6 spring onion
Bunch of coriander
6 garlic cloves
6 red chillies
Cauliflower
Red pepper
Green pepper
Yellow pepper
6 carrots
2 stalks of celery
Red wine vinegar
Cumin seeds - dry fried and crushed
Sweet smoked paprika
Oregano (dried is fine)
2 bay leaves
Turmeric
To start, prep the veg for pickling. Turn the cauliflower into small florets, de-seed and slice 2 chillies, roughly chop the celery, slice the peppers and the onions thinly, slice the garlic as thinly as possible and peel and slice the carrots. This can all then be softened in a large pan with a little olive oil, a pinch of the cumin and plenty of seasoning. After a minute or 2 add the oregano and bay leaves and a 50/50 mix of red wine vinegar and water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Check the veg at this point, you want it to be slightly softened but still al dente. Check it now for seasoning and acidity and adjust accordingly. When it's ready transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.
Next the guacamole. Skin, de-stone and chop the avocados, slice the onion, de-seed and chop 2 chillies and chop 1 table spoon of the coriander leaves. Add all of these to a blender and add a pinch of cumin, olive oil, red wine vinegar and the juice of 2 limes. Then pulse until it is smooth, but with a few lumps left (this adds texture.)
Finally pick all the leaves off the coriander. Chop roughly and put in a bowl for later. Next chop the coriander stalks very finely, it's criminal to throw this part away. Add this to finely sliced spring onions and chopped garlic (I prefer not to crush garlic to retain the oil) and put in a bowl for later.
All of these jobs can be done in the morning, leaving you just to prepare the last parts as people arrive. For the final stage - start with the rice. I always use basmati rice in Mexican/Chinese/Indian cooking. I find it the easiest to work with. This way with rice is a version of Ken Hom's and is almost faultless. Wash the rice until the water comes clear, this can take about 10 minutes. In a saucepan, add some olive oil and lightly fry a table spoon of the coriander/onion/garlic mix. Then add the rice and coat it well in the flavoured oil. add enough water to come 1 inch above the rice and add seasoning and a table spoon of Turmeric. Bring to the boil with the lid off and don't be tempted to turn the down the gas. Keep it boiling ferociously until the water cooks below the level of the rice (you should see little craters.) Then turn the gas to its lowest setting and put a lid on top (this needs to be tight fitting, if not add a tea towel and then the lid.) Cook it like this for 5 - 10 minutes until the rest of the water has disapearred, then simply turn off the heat and leave it to stand for 5 minutes - perfect rice every time.
While the rice is cooking prep the spicy chicken. De-seed and slice 2 chillies. Add the rest of the coriander/onion/garlic mix, a large pinch of the cumin and the chillies to some olive oil and bring slowly to a light sizzle. Add the tomatoes, season and let it bubble away at a medium heat. When the tomato liquid reduces a little, add a dash of red wine vinegar. Then add your chicken and the juice of a lemon. Let the chicken warm in the sauce and check it for seasoning. When it is ready add the coriander leaves and transfer to a warm bowl.
Serve the chicken with a pile of tortilla wraps, sour cream, grated cheese, the rice, Guacamole and pickled vegetables. With all the different bowls and colours, it looks and tastes amazing.
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