Chicken and Tenderstem® broccoli Bake with Durban Spices

Chicken and Tenderstem® broccoli Bake with Durban Spices

Inspiration for this recipe comes from South Africa. Zoe Adjonyoh has created this dish as the perfect way to explore a new continent from the comfort of your own kitchen.

Zoe said: “This is a fool-proof family favourite, full of cheats to make a creamy and delicious family meal in no time. You can pimp up this dish with an awesome aromatic spice blend running through it. I recently found out that Durban in South Africa is the second biggest Indian city outside of India thanks to ‘the Science of Spice’ cookbook by Dr Stuart Farrimond.

“I’ve incorporated Dr Farrimond’s Durban curry masala spice mix to take this otherwise traditional chicken bake dish to the next level, and it works to brilliant effect! When you have a busy schedule or a family to organise it can be tough creating tasty, home-cooked food from scratch. This a great one for short-cutting, using shop-bought tinned soup to get that creamy goodness.

“Once you’ve made the spice mix you can save it for future use and even faster prep time.”

Preparation time

30 minutes

Cooking time

1 hour

Serves

4

Dietary requirements

  • Gluten free

Nutritional information per serving

  • kcal 480
  • Fat 31.2g
  • Saturates 10g
  • Carbs 11.8g
  • Sugars 6.6g
  • Fibre 5.7g
  • Protein 37g
  • Salt 1.4g

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/ gas mark 4.

  2. Make the Durban curry masala spice mix: toast the coriander, cumin, cardamom and fenugreek seeds with the cloves and cinnamon stick in a frying pan over a medium heat until fragrant. Then grind them with the chilli powder, cayenne and ground ginger. Set aside 1½ tbsp of the mix for the recipe and store the remainder in a sealed container.

  3. Heat the oil in a wide non-stick frying pan, add the chicken breasts and sear on both sides until they start to lightly crisp and turn golden.

  4. Add the onions to the same pan and sauté lightly. Add the mushrooms and 1 tbsp of the Durban spice mix. Stir together to coat the chicken and vegetables evenly and cook for 2-3 minutes on a medium low heat. Add the wine or sherry and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

  5. Steam the Tenderstem® broccoli until tender to the bite, around 3-4 minutes.

  6. Combine the ingredients from the frying pan with the lightly steamed Tenderstem® broccoli in an ovenproof dish.

  7. In a separate bowl, mix together the chicken soup with the remaining ½ tbsp of the Durban spice blend and the mayonnaise (if using) and mix thoroughly before pouring evenly over the chicken and Tenderstem® broccoli in the tray.

  8. Make the topping: combine the melted butter with the grated cheese, garlic and the spring onions or red onion. Spoon the mixture over the chicken, then sprinkle over the flaked almonds or breadcrumbs for a crunchy finish at the end. Bake for 30 minutes until golden.

    Tip

    You can stretch this dish even further by adding 350g cooked al dente pasta shells to the casserole dish before going in the oven – just mix well with the sauce and other ingredients.

More ways to cook Tenderstem®