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May 22, 2006

Mango-papaya chicken

Ingredients:

Thighs and drumsticks of 2 chickens, 8 pieces in all
One medium or two small onions
One or two green mangos, about 300 grams or 10 ounces
Note: Make sure the mangos are green, not ripe or even semi-ripe.
About 300 grams or 10 ounces ripe papaya, the red kind is best
Two or three cloves of garlic
One lime
Olive oil, Angostura bitters, salt, black pepper, brown sugar or Splenda

Preparation:

Peel the mangos, cut the meat from the bone, dice and put in blender.
Peel and seed the papaya. Dice and put in blender.
Peel and dice the onions. Put in blender.
Peel the garlic cloves and put in blender.
Clean the chicken parts. Drain and set aside.
Peel three one inch pieces of lime rind. Set side.

Add water to the blender to bring the total volume to 5 cups. Blend at slow to medium speed until smooth.

Pour the blended mixture into a deep saucepan. Add salt, pepper, a dash or two of Angostura bitters, the lime rind and two heaping soup spoons of brown sugar. If you are using Splenda, reserve until later. Squeeze the juice of half the lime into the fruit mixture. Use the whole lime if you like your food tart.

Boil the fruit mixture on medium heat for 1/2 an hour stiring fairly often so that it does not stick to the bottom.

Once the fruit mixture is cooked, pour a dash of olive oil into a wide and deep pan, about 10 inches wide. It should be big enough for all the chicken parts to fit on the bottom. A Dutch oven is perfect for the job. When the oil is hot, add the chicken parts turning them once after a few minutes.

Once the chicken parts have been browned for a few minutes, pour the hot fruit mixture on top of the chicken parts making sure they are all well covered, cover and let simmer on medium heat for 45 minutes stiring occasionally.

Turn off the heat. Add the Splenda. Correct the seasoning.

Serve with fresh noodles.

I find that this dish tastes better cold than hot, you notice the fruit flavor more.

Enjoy.

Denny Schlesinger

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