Chicken and Cashews with Coconut Satay Sauce and Coconut RiceServes 8This is an all-in-one meal - while the sauce is cooking in the jug, the coconut rice is steaming in the basket above it, and the chicken and veges in the Varoma tray on top. This is one of our favourite quick-and-easy meals... when I don't feel like cooking, I can have this on the table in half an hour. I start the rice cooking and chicken cooking while I chop up the veges, adding them as I go.
(Adapted from the Chicken and Cashews recipe in the Thermomix Everyday Cookbook - but with my coconut satay sauce!)The first 3 steps, marinating the chicken, can be done ahead of time for more flavour - but if you're doing it at the last minute like I usually am, don't worry, it still tastes good!
1. Cut chicken into smallish cubes (about 1.5cm square) or slices and place in a bowl:
- 300g - 400g chicken breasts or thighs2. Chop in Thermomix bowl for 5 seconds, speed 7:
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 1-2 cms fresh ginger Scrape out with spatula and mix with chicken in bowl.
(Don't wash out Thermomix bowl.)3. Add to chicken, mix in, cover, and set aside:
- a couple of tablespoons of tamari or soy sauce
- a splash of sesame oil4. Pour into Thermomix bowl:
- 450g coconut cream (1 tin)
- 750g water5. Sit lid on top of jug, and rice basket on top of lid. Set scales and weigh rice into basket:
- 400g basmati rice (or less if you're cooking for less people) Remove basket and lid, rinse rice under tap (in basket), place basket in jug, 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. Here's a list of suggested veges - use what you've got:
- 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 top8. Sprinkle over the top of the veges:
- some sesame seeds
- a handful of cashews (roasted or raw)
- a dash of sesame oil
- a dash of tamari (or soy sauce)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 following ingredients and blend on speed 9 for 1 minute:
- 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!)
Serve immediately - rice, chicken and veges with cashews on top, and sauce drizzled over liberally!
Hope you like it!
Opi2kenopi: It would feed several hungry adults easily, and I probably used half the stated amount of rice.
Quirkycooking: I often feed 10 adults with this meal, using the full amount of rice (with a breadroll each and maybe a bit of salad).
Can use macadamias for the satay sauce instead of cashews.
Yes, coconut milk works fine.
Cuilidh: I made this with tofu yesterday and also made naan bread to go with it - the tofu version was gorgeous - thanks for the recipe. I simply substituted tofu (I had a 350 g block of firm tofu) wherever chicken was mentioned. I did marinate the tofu for a couple of hours at the beginning, though, and I think that helped.
Maddy: I used chicken thighs, and because I cut 700g, all up I cooked them for 30-35 mins.
My veggie supply was really sparse, so I used 500g of frozen veggies, and cooked that for the same time on the top varoma dish. All cooked perfectly.
nola276: Made this today for lunch except that I used fish in parcels instead. Drizzled the marinade over the fish parcels and then sealed the foil. Popped them in the bottom of the Varoma, put the veges in top, rice in basket and made the sauce at the end.
rostess: I made this last night with peanut butter and it was delicious!
Mrs KK: I substituted Coconut milk for carnation light & creamy coconut flav evaporated milk and quinoa instead of rice (to keep the calories down)... This will definitely become a regular in our house. I did everything else as instructed in the recipe although I used more chicken and had to increase the cooking time.
Droverjess:Made 300 g rice quantity, but full quantity everything else.
Only had 250g creamed coconut.
Used 280g cooked chicken. Marinated and put in top bit of varoma for 10 minutes.
Used onion, leek, carrot, sweetheart cabbage, 4 mushrooms and a T of frozen shallots.
Blackwood:I'm not a fan of coriander, so I used parsley instead, and as I said, only a little bit of chilli paste (the stuff in a tube from the produce section of Woolies)
INAID:I use about 500g chicken and reduce the rice by half. Otherwise it feeds an army!
LauraTO: The sauce is really nice the next day with salmon done in the varoma.
Meganjane: I decided I'd make this tonight, but after reading the recipe, I changed it. Since I was experimenting, it's not perfect, but the resultant meal was delicious.
Chicken& Vege Satay
1 shallot, peeled and halved
1 red chilli, chopped (de-seed if you don't like heat)
2 cm piece fresh ginger, sliced
1 Tbsp raw sugar
Chop all on speed 5 for a few seconds. Scrape down and add 15g oil. Sauté on Varoma for 3 minutes, speed 1.
4 Chicken Thighs, sliced into 2cm by 1/2 cm strips
Add chicken to bowl and sauté on Varoma for 5 minutes, speed 1 to 2. Use spatula to move chicken around as necessary.
While cooking, cut up vegies - 2 carrots, 2 sticks celery, broccoli, 1/2 onion, 1/4 Chinese Cabbage and 3 spring onions.
1 x 175ml can Coconut Milk + 1 can of water
3 Tbsp TM Nut Paste
2 tsp Vege or Chicken Stock
2 Kaffir Lime Leaves
Add the above to the bowl with the chicken and cook for 5 more minutes on Varoma, speed 1.
Remove from bowl and place in Thermoserver.
Don't rinse bowl. Add 1 litre hot water
Measure out 250g Jasmine Rice into basket and rinse under cold water. Place basket into bowl and place harder vegetables (carrot, celery, onion) into Varoma Base. Place broccoli into Varoma Tray.
Leave cabbage and spring onions until later.
Programme TM to cook on Varoma, speed 3 for 16 minutes. After 10 minutes, place vegetables from basket into Thermoserver with Chicken. Transfer broccoli to base and place cabbage and spring onion in tray over the top. Continue cooking.
When time is up, transfer remaining vegies to Thermoserver and mix well. Place rice into a serving bowl.
