Plum and Apricot Stew

Getting this photo was really difficult. Started late, struggled with the lighting. But it was delicious. This stew was chicken with skin, apricots, dried and fresh, notes of coriander and smoked paprika, chickpeas, kumara and courgette. Thickened with amaranth, sprinkled with seeds for an extra crunch. Delicious.

Ingredients

5 Chicken Thighs, Skin On

1 Orange Kumara, Cut into cubes

3 Courgettes, roughly chopped

1 Green Capsicum, roughly diced

6 Dried Apricots, finely sliced

3 Fresh Apricots, stoned and quartered

2 Brown Onions, Peeled and Roughly Chopped

1 Bulb Garlic, Peeled and Minced

6 Mushrooms, quartered

400g Brined Chickpeas

1/4 Cup Amaranth

400 Crushed Tomatoes

1 Litre Chicken Stock

1 Cup of Lime Juice

3 Teaspoons Smoked Paprika

2 Teaspoons Dried Coriander

2 Teaspoons Dried Oregano

Fresh Coriander to serve

Linseeds

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

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Method

Two frying pans, one large for the sauce, one smaller to fry the chicken. Oil both. Have the smaller one on a high heat and the bigger one on a medium heat.

Pat the chicken dry, skin included. Salt it, then fry it skin-side down.

In the other pan, add the onions, garlic, paprika, dried oregano, dried coriander and capsicum.

Once the chicken skin is crispy, flip it, brown on the flesh side and then set it aside for later.

Keep the onions in the other pan moving. The aroma of the spices should waft up, at that point, add the lime juice. Reduce it back, then add the chickpeas, dried apricots. Fry that for five minutes on a high heat, then add the chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, apricots, courgette, mushrooms and kumara. Stir, make sure it does stick to the bottom. Keep it up until the kumara is nearly done.

Reduce the heat, add the Amaranth and slowly reduce the mixture. When it's nice and thick salt and pepper to taste. Then, nestle the chicken thighs into the sauce skin-side up and gently simmer until the chicken is cooked. Take the chicken out, cut it into slices and put them back into the sauce.

Chop up the fresh coriander and sprinkle over top to serve along with a peppering on linseeds.

Enjoy!