Sri Lankan Coconut Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

Sri Lankan Coconut Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

Ready in 35 minutes Serves 4-5
This dish most recently appeared in My Classic (5 Nights For 4) on Sunday, February 5, 2017.

This coconut chicken will leave you wanting to jet-set to Sri Lanka to indulge in more of their delicious delicacies.


Ingredients

SRI LANKAN COCONUT CHICKEN

  • 2 cups Japanese brown rice
  • 2½ cups water
  • 600g chicken tenders
  • 1 red onion, finely diced (reserve 2 tablespoons for salsa)
  • 1½ tablespoons Sri Lankan spice
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 cup coconut milk (shake well before opening)
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vinegar (e.g. white wine, cider)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 200g green beans

PINEAPPLE SALSA

  • 2 tablespoons finely diced red onion (reserved)
  • ¼ pineapple
  • 1 capsicum
  • 2 teaspoons vinegar (e.g. white wine, cider)
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar

Steps

  1. BBQ grill to high (if using).
  2. Combine rice, water and a pinch of salt in a medium pot and bring to the boil. As soon as it boils, cover with a tight-fitting lid and reduce to lowest heat to cook for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and leave to steam, still covered, for a further 8 minutes. Do not lift lid during cooking.
  3. While rice cooks, pat chicken dry with paper towels, season with salt and set aside. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large fry-pan on medium heat and cook onions for 3-4 minutes, until softened. Add Sri Lankan spice to pan and cook a further 1 minute, until fragrant.
  4. Add chopped tomatoes, coconut milk, brown sugar, vinegar, salt and chicken to pan. Stir until combined. Increase heat to high and when sauce starts to simmer, reduce heat to low-medium to simmer for 12-15 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened.
  5. While sauce simmers, trim ends from beans, cut into 2cm lengths and set aside. When sauce has 2-3 minutes of cook time remaining, add beans to pan and cook until tender but still firm to the bite. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  6. Prepare pineapple salsa. Peel and core pineapple then dice 1cm. Remove core and seeds from capsicum and dice 1cm. Toss both in a bowl with all remaining pineapple salsa ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  7. Spoon ¾ cup brown rice into each bowl and top with Sri Lankan coconut chicken. Drizzle extra coconut sauce over if desired and top with lots of pineapple salsa.

Nutritional Information

Energy 2350 kj
562 kcal
Protein 34.9g
Carbohydrate 51.3g
Fat 23.9g