Apricot Chicken

Apricot Chicken

8 skinless chicken breasts
250ml mayonnaise
250ml apricot chutney
300ml water
15ml mild curry powder
250g dried apricots
45ml thyme leaves

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Place the chicken in a large oven dish, spacing them so that they aren’t crowded.
Season with salt and pepper.
Pour the mayonnaise, chutney, water and curry powder into a jug and whisk together.
Pour over the chicken.
Chop half the apricots and sprinkle on the chicken.
Cover the oven dish with aluminium foil and place in the oven to cook for 40 minutes.
Remove the foil and scatter the rest of the apricots over.
Cook the chicken (without the foil) for another 15 minutes. Spoon the liquid over the chicken from time to time.
I serve this dish on couscous which is great for absorbing the abundance of sauce. A tomato and basil salad is the perfect pairing for a great weekday dinner!

Oven-baked Sweet-and-Sour Chicken

Oven-baked Sweet-and-Sour Chicken

This is a hands-off meal that can be served with fragrant steamed rice or noodles. Leftovers are even better the next day!

9 skinless chicken breasts
125ml cornstarch
2 eggs
vegetable oil for frying

Sweet-and-sour sauce:
250ml sugar
250ml apple cider vinegar
125ml tomato sauce (ketchup)
30ml soy sauce
5ml garlic powder

Preheat your oven to 190℃ and spray an oven-proof dish or casserole of about 18cm X 28cm. Set aside.
Add all the sauce ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk together until the sugar has dissolved. Put aside.
Cut the chicken in to 2 – 3 cm chunks, season with salt and pepper and toss together in a mixing bowl.
Sprinkle the cornstarch over the chicken and mix to coat all the pieces.
Heat about 3cm of vegetable oil in a saucepan.
Whisk the eggs in a small bowl.
Dip the chicken pieces in the egg and fry the pieces in batches, in the oil, until golden.
Place the fried chicken into the prepared oven-proof dish. Keep going until all the chicken has been fried.
Pour the sauce over the chicken and cook in the oven for 40 minutes. Give it a stir once or twice during cooking time.
Serve the sweet-and-sour chicken on steamed rice or noodles, with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.