Information:

Time: 45 minutes, 15 minute prep. Serves 4. Goes well with pasta or rice.

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Brazilian chicken2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
  • 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
  • 1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk
  • 1 bunch chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

  1. In a medium bowl, mix the cumin, cayenne pepper, turmeric, and coriander. Place the chicken in the bowl, season with salt and pepper, and rub on all sides with the spice mixture.
  2. Brazilian chickenHeat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the chicken in the skillet. Cook 10 to 15 minutes on each side, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove from heat and set aside.
  3. Heat the remaining olive oil in the skillet. Cook and stir the onion, ginger, jalapeño peppers, and garlic 5 minutes, or until tender. Mix in the tomatoes and continue cooking 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk. Serve over the chicken. Garnish with the parsley. Be sure to let the sauce warm up to a simmer after you add the coconut milk, which is probably coming from a room temperature can. In addition, by the time the sauce is ready to be poured, the chicken has been sitting unheated for at least 10 minutes. So it’s important to heat the sauce if you want this meal to be warm.

Assessment:

In addition to tasting great, it was exciting to pour the simmering sauce over the golden spiced chicken at the end. The coconut and jalapeño are really present. While cooking, the seasoned chicken releases aromas aplenty. I think the 15-minute prep time is a bit optimistic, as this meal took me half an hour. But most cooks are probably more efficient.

Brazilian chicken

Lessons Learned:

The recipe called for 3 tomatoes, and I used one can of diced tomato (draining the juice from the can beforehand.) Also, I made this at a friend’s house and forgot to bring cumin. Beyond that, I would definitely use larger chicken breasts next time. I don’t care for tomato or onion on their own (although I like the flavors), and it seemed that my plate was mostly covered in them. But had the chicken been larger, it would have been more balanced. A side of rice would round out the meal, especially as one could mix the vegetables and sauce with the rice.

Recipe from Allrecipes.