Recipe: Chicken With Olives And Lemon

A Middle Eastern-Mediterranean-style chicken dish, Chef Khaled Abu sautes bite-size chicken pieces with mild spices, onions, garlic, tomatoes and finishes it with lemon, lemon zest, parsely and olives. It's an excellent match for a nut-garnished pilaf.

Ingredients

• 450 gm chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut in curry pieces
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 small potatoes, peeled, diced

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• 30 gm diced tomatoes or 1 small tomato, diced
• 3 tbsp capers, rinsed (edible green berries available for purchase online)
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley 

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• 4 large pods garlic, minced
• 1-2 cups fat-free chicken broth (please see the last slide for the chicken broth recipe)
• 1 cup pitted whole green olives

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• 1 tsp haldi or turmeric
• 1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
• 1 tsp paprika

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• ½ tsp jaiphal or nutmeg powder
• ½ tsp dalcheeni or cinnamon
• Juice of 1 lemon

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• Zest of ½ a lemon (lemon peel grated)
• Salt to taste, about 2 tsp
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 2-3 extra virgin olive oil or use non-fat cooking spray

Method

• Spray a large saucepan with non-fat cooking spray or add in 2-3 tbsp olive oil and warm over medium high heat.
  Add in the chicken and brown on each side.
• Remove the chicken and keep aside.

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• Into the same saucepan add the garlic, onion and sauté, stirring constantly until tender, about 5 minutes.
  Return the chicken to the pan and sprinkle in the cumin, paprika, turmeric, salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg.

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• Add in the potatoes, tomatoes, and 1-2 cups chicken broth -- enough broth to cover the chicken and potatoes.
  Cover and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until chicken is tender and cooked through; about 25 to 30 minutes.

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• Add in the lemon juice, lemon zest, capers, olives, parsley and heat through.
  Then add the salt, pepper.
• Serve immediately hot with a pulao.

How to make chicken broth
Make chicken broth from scratch by boiling 4-5 cups water with 1 whole chicken, 5-6 whole black peppercorns, 2 tsp or less salt, 4 tbsp chopped parsley with stems, 2 laung or cloves, 5 pods garlic, 2 tej patta or bay leaves till vegetables are tender and the water is steeped with the flavour of the vegetables and spices.
Strain and use.