Devilled Sri Lankan Chicken & Coconut Sambol

Warning this dish is totally scrummy and completely irresistible.

INGREDIENTS 

• 500g of chicken breast, diced into medium sized pieces
• 2 small red onions, cut into quarters or wedges
• 3 medium fresh tomatoes, cut into quarters or wedges
• 2 banana peppers or substitute with 2 bell peppers, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3cm ginger, minced
• 1.5 tbsp of Spice Kitchen Sri Lankan masala powder
• ½ tsp of ground turmeric
• 1 tsp of Spice Kitchen Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp of oyster sauce
• 4 tbsp of tomato sauce (ketchup works well)
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1 tsp of chilli flakes
• 50ml of neutral oil

METHOD 

1. Place the chicken in a medium sized bowl and add the Sri Lankan blend, turmeric, chilli powder, salt, 1 tbsp of olive oil and mix well. Refrigerate overnight or at least for 3 hours.
2. Add the 50ml of neutral oil into a medium sized pan over a medium heat. Let the oil heat slightly and then shallow fry the chicken until they turn golden brown around the edges. This should take approx. 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan onto a plate and set aside.
3.  Place the same pan with the remaining oil back on to a medium heat and add the garlic and ginger and cook for approx. 1 – 2 minutes.
4.  Then, carefully add the onion and peppers to the pan and stir to cook for approx. 2 minutes. Sauté until the peppers become slightly soft a(but should remain slightly crunchy). Finally, add in the chopped tomatoes and sauté for a further 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat if the tomatoes start to become mushy.
5.  Pour in oyster sauce, tomato sauce, soy sauce and chilli flakes. Mix well with the vegetables for a further 2 minutes.
6.  Return the chicken to the pan and mix well, cooking for a further 2 – 3 minutes or until the chicken has fully absorbed the sauce. There should be a little gravy/sauce at the bottom of the pan, which you can choose to serve the dish as either dry or with the sauce. Serve with plain rice/fresh coconut stuffed rotis. 

For the Coconut Sambol (Pol Sambol)

INGREDIENTS

• 100g grated coconut (you can use frozen grated coconut), use desiccated as a substitute
• 8 dried red chillies from Spice Kitchen
• 4 shallots
• Juice from half a lime
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 tsp salt

METHOD

1. Place the dried red chilli and salt in a food processor and blitz until this forms a red chilli flake consistency.
2. Using a pestle and mortar, add the coconut and blitzed chilli flakes. Bash and mix them together until this forms a combined paste.
3. Add the shallots and bash them until a rough mixture.
4. Place in to a large bowl and garnish with the fresh lime juice and add more salt to taste.

He's the king of delicious recipes- @sanjcooks