Chicken and Cashews with Coconut Satay Sauce and Rice

Chicken & Cashews with Coconut Satay Sauce and Coconut Rice

By Jo Whitton (from www.quirkycooking.blogspot.com)

 

Ingredients:

300-400g chicken breasts or thighs1-2 cloves garlic

1-2 cms fresh ginger

2 tbsp tamari sauce

splash sesame oil

450g coconut cream (1 tin, or make your own in the Thermomix)

750g water

400g basmati rice (or less if you don't want that much)

Vegetables:

- some thin wedges of onion
- 2 stalks of celery, leaves removed, thinly sliced
- 2 carrots, thinly sliced
- broccoli, small pieces
- green beans
- chinese cabbage, thinly sliced
- boy choy, thinly sliced
- red (and/or green) capsicum, thinly sliced
- snow peas
- shallots, sliced and sprinkled on top

- some sesame seeds
- a handful of cashews (roasted or raw)
- a dash of sesame oil
- a dash of tamari (or soy sauce)

 Sauce Ingredients:

 - a couple of handfuls of raw cashews
- 1 inch of fresh red chilli (or more if you like it hotter)
- a good handful of fresh parsley or coriander
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 inch of fresh ginger
- a couple of tablespoons of tamari (or soy sauce)
- 1 teaspoon of Rapadura (optional)
- a tablespoon of chicken stock paste (or vege stock paste)
(I don't measure - just chuck in what you think, blend it, taste it, and adjust if necessary!)

Thermomix Method:

1.     Cut chicken into smallish cubes (about 1.5cm square) or slices and place in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Add garlic and ginger and chop in Thermomix bowl for 5 seconds, speed 7. Scrape out with spatula and mix with chicken in bowl.  (Don't wash out Thermomix bowl.)
3. Add tamari and sesame oil to chicken, mix in, cover, and set aside.
4. Pour coconut cream and water into Thermomix bowl. Sit lid on top of Thermomix bowl, and rice basket on top of lid. Set scales and weigh rice into basket.
5. Remove basket and lid, rinse rice under tap (in basket), place basket into Thermomix bowl, then replace lid and lock into place.
6. Place Varoma tray on top of lid, tip chicken into it and spread out so there's holes open for the steam to come through.  Start cooking at Varoma temperature, 20 minutes, speed 4.
7. Meanwhile, chop up the veges and place them into the Varoma as it's heating up.  I start chopping the harder veges first and put them in as I get them chopped, leaving the ones like snow peas, capsicum and shallots until the end.  Make sure there's a hole in the middle for the steam to get through.  The ingredients list suggested veges - use what you've got.
8. Sprinkle the sesame seeds, cashews, extra sesame oil and extra tamari sauce over the top of the veges.
9. When the time's up, remove the rice (placing in the Thermoserver to keep warm), and stir the chicken and veges, breaking the chicken apart and making sure there are holes unblocked for the steam to get through. Cook for another 5 or 10 minutes on Varoma temperature, speed 2, checking that the chicken is cooked through.  You may need to add a little more water if there's not much left in the bowl.  Once cooked, remove Varoma tray while you finish the sauce.  (Tip: You can take the lid off the Thermoserver with the rice in it, and sit the Varoma tray on top so they both stay warm.)
10. To the juices and coconut cream left in the bowl, add the sauce ingredients and blend on speed 9 for 1 minute. Serve immediately - rice, chicken and veges with cashews on top, and sauce drizzled over liberally!  

Non-Thermomix Method

1.     Marinate chicken with ground garlic & ginger, tamari & sesame oil.
2. Make coconut rice in saucepan or in rice cooker.
3. Meanwhile, steam chicken & veges in a steamer, or stir fry them in a frying pan.
4. Make the satay sauce in a blender, using a tin of coconut milk and some chicken stock as the liquid, then heat in saucepan before pouring over chicken & vegies.