A Little Variety This Thanksgiving: Recipe for Chutney Chicken

Meal Monday

Photo by tuchodi via Flickr.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I absolutely adore a brined and perfectly roasted turkey, and I could eat a good batch of stuffing for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  To have all of this, surrounded by family, with time to be grateful for all I have? What's not to like?

Naturally, I eagerly await the arrival of the holiday editions of my favorite cooking magazines. I am in pure heaven imagining all the possible permutations of turkey, potato, stuffing and vegetables. Every page is a new dream … until the what-to-do-with-the-leftovers page.  Every magazine has it. And every year, under a small cloud of culinary self-doubt, I flip past it. I know that as an American cook who, in every other aspect is frugal, I should respect and value these recipes, but much as I love the perfect Thanksgiving menu, I want nothing to do with it except on that one glorious Thursday.

Now that I'm a mom, I have a deeper and more empathetic understanding of the need for making a yummy, time-intensive meal stretch on – both for practical and financial reasons. But as my family happily slaps together turkey and cranberry sandwiches on Friday, I'm ordering Chinese.

And so, in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, what am I preparing? This year, I'm with an especially large gathering of family, and have lots of differing preferences to satisfy. So, last night we cooked up a simple dish that was broadly appealing, but with a very different theme than Thursday will have.
Adapted – in this case, made even easier and healthier -- from the Silver Palate's Good Times Cookbook, this Thanksgiving recipe is crowd-pleasing and relatively inexpensive.

Mango Chutney Chicken Recipe for Thanksgiving

Ingredients

2 TB. Curry powder

2 small chickens, cut into pieces (or buy them in pieces)

1 ½ cups prepared chutney (mango, or any tangy flavor will do. Choose the spice level you prefer.)

To prepare:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat the chutney and the curry in a small sauce pan over low heat, and stir until well blended. (The Silver Palate authors suggest joining with a bit of wine. I've left it out because we're feeding a few young children. But you should try it!)
3. Place the chicken into a large roasting pan and spoon the sauce evenly across all the pieces.
4. Cook the chicken until done – when the juices of a piece run clear when cut – basting every 30 minutes or so. Depending on the evenness of your oven and the crowdedness of your chicken pieces, it will take between 1 hour and 90 minutes.

Serve it  with chopped cilantro on top, alongside brown rice and a leafy salad topped with garlicky vinaigrette and you’ve got a good start to the Thanksgiving week. And the turkey and stuffing will be even more satisfying. Have a great holiday!

Comments

[Katherine]

Oh, I love mango chutney! And my kids prefer chicken to turkey. This will definitely go on my to-try list. Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

[Cyberman]

Have you ever seen somebody lick the chutney spoon in an Indian Restaurant and put it back? This would never have happened under the Tories.