East African Chicken

Most of my friends and all my family are aware that I do not like anything sweet added to my protein. On my plate, horror of all horrors would be to see pieces of fruit with chicken, pork or beef, so as you can guess, no Hawaiian pizza, no pineapple chicken or sweet and sour pork for me. However, I must say that my brother-in-law's - East African Chicken - is making me reconsider my position. There is a lot of flavour in this dish and a generous amount of heat; and the marriage between the spices and fruits (dates and rasins) is a happy one. As we enjoyed this for dinner yesterday, I was reminded that love of food demands a healthy amount of a spirit of adventure and I am glad to say that I have altered my position after eating this dish.  

So, to the proteinfrutophobes (word not yet in the English dictionary which means fear of protein and fruit in the same dish), I say, try this recipe and if it is still not your thing, then try it one more time after which I say, congratulations for having tried - proteinfrutism may not be for everyone (yes, another word that has yet to make it to the English dictionary....)

My brother in law is not just a fabulous cook, he makes the effort of going back to his blog and updating any changes he has made to his recipe. I have shamelessly copied it word for word from his blog and although it may appear time consuming, the finished product is certainly time well spent. I served it with quinoa cooked with a little salt and nothing else, because chicken with such bold flavours needs no competition from an overly dressed side dish. 

p.s. I have to confess, the only change I made was to use 12 instead of the 16 dates suggested, blame it on the proteinfrutophobia that I could not shake off entirely.

Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 6 - 8

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 large chicken thighs skinned
• 1 tbsp salt (or more if desired)
• 4 tsp black pepper ground
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cups sliced onion
• 2 tbsp chopped peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp ground cardamom
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 8 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 8-oz can diced tomato
• 16  pitted dates cut in half
• 1/2 cup golden raisins 

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and black pepper

3. Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, cook 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove the chicken from pan
4. Add the onions to the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently 
5. Add the ginger and next 5 ingredients (ginger through garlic); cook for 1 minute
6. Stir in chicken, broth, and the remaining ingredients, and bring to a boil

7. Cover and bake at 360 degrees for 90 minutes