Coconut chicken with rice and mushrooms

Recently we have been exploring a bit with a bit more complex recipes(such as coconut chicken) to simplify them and debunk their problematic and time-consuming approach. Today we will focus on coconut milk and what we can do with it.

I am sure that you have heard of curry chicken. Everything that we will do today will be similar, but without the curry powder – so if you want to do curry chicken, all you have to do is add the curry powder to it.

I will not tell you that you will not enjoy the coconut drumsticks by themselves, but adding a bit a zing to your zang is necessary. As such we need a filler, like rice, and some umami component, which is the mushrooms. The combination of them all makes for an amazing dish.

On a side note, here is how you can elevate and fancy up cheap and easy meals.

For that you will need:

For the coconut drumsticks

1. 500 grams of chicken drumsticks
2. 200-250 ml of coconut milk
3. a bit of garlic
4. salt and pepper
5. olive oil
6. butter
7. Paprika, salt, and pepper

For the rice:

1. one cup of rice
2. 2 cups of water

For the mushrooms

1. Fresh mushrooms, sliced
2. garlic
3. Paprika, salt, and pepper

How to get it done:

1. Get the drumsticks, dry them with toilet paper and marinate them with salt pepper and paprika
2. In a thick and deep pot put some oil in high heat.
3. Once the oil is hot, place the drum sticks and give them a very nice sear from all sides. We want the skin to get crispy
4. Dump in the coconut milk, add a clove of garlic and whatever aromatics that you may have around (like bay leaf or whatnot)
5. Lower the heat and let them simmer for at least 30 minutes. This will cook the chicken thoroughly, soften them up and get them all juicy.
6. Generally, you can see if it is done if you push the knife in the thickest part of the drumstick and the juice that is coming is clear.
7. What are expecting here very soft chicken drumsticks that basically are destroyed with a spoon
8. If you want to thicken and add a bit of taste, some butter is always a good idea in the end
9. After the coconut chicken is done, let is settle for a second and start on the mushrooms

For the Mushrooms

1. In a hot pan with olive oil, add the sliced mushrooms and let them sear till the moisture is evaporated.
2. At this point just add some salt and pepper and chopped garlic
3. Let it sear properly.
4. Remove and place in a plate. Here we are waiting for a lot of flavour

For the rice

1. In a pot add one cup of rice and 2 cups of water
2. Bring to boil
3. Lower the heat to low and cover to simmer
4. Cook for 15 minutes.
5. Done

How to serve

Generally speaking, this can go at this in two ways:

1. You are trying to impress someone you should put a bed of rice, e side of two drumsticks with a bit of the coconut chicken sauce and a tablespoon of fried mushrooms
2. If you are trying to enjoy a simple dinner at home, just put the pots and the pans in the table and share like this is supposed to

Note: I am a native albanian speaker and you can find these recipes in albanian at Delicious.al