Spicy Chicken

Ingredients

For the chicken goujons:

• 2 fillets of free range chicken (sliced lengthways)
• 80 g flour
• 100 g fine breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 4 mini pitta pockets (lightly toasted)

For the chilli jam:

• 1 red pepper (de-seeded and chopped)
• 2 chillies (de-seeded and chopped)
• 100 g tinned tomatoes
• 100 g sugar
• 1 inch of fresh ginger, grated

For the couscous, raisin and feta salad:

• 200 g couscous
• 50 g feta cheese (cubed)
• 50 g raisins
• 350 ml hot chicken stock
• juice and zest of lemon
• 0.50 tsp each of ground cumin, cinnamon and coriander
• salt and pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• for the chips:
• 6 medium potatoes
• 2 tblsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• cayenne pepper
• 200 ml sour cream

Method

1. For the Chips:
2. Preheat your oven to 200ºC.
3. Wash and peel the potatoes and cut into finger-thick chips.
4. Drop the chips into a pot of boiling water, bring back to boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Drain chips, allow them to steam dry and place them in a single layer in a roasting dish.
6. Season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.
7. Drizzle the olive oil over the chips and toss until evenly coated.
8. Place on the top shelf of the oven and cook for approximately 20 minutes, turning occasionally to produce a crisp chip.
9. For the Couscous:
10. Bring the chicken stock to the boil.
11. Add the couscous, a little olive oil, and some salt and pepper.
12. Add the lemon zest, cumin, coriander and cinnamon, stir once.
13. Remove from the heat, cover pot tightly and allow to stand for about 5 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.
14. Using a fork, fluff up the cooked couscous and transfer to a bowl.
15. Allow to cool until tepid before adding remaining ingredients.
16. Once cool, add the cubed feta, raisins and lemon juice with a little olive oil.
17. Mix the salad gently until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
18. Set aside until ready to serve.
19. For the Chicken Goujons:
20. Use three bowls - one each for flour, eggs and breadcrumbs.
21. Dip the chicken strips in the flour, then into the egg and finally roll them in the breadcrumbs until evenly coated.
22. Shallow fry the breaded goujons over a medium-low heat for about 3 minutes on each side until golden and cooked through.
23. For the Chilli Jam:
24. Put all the red pepper, chillies, tomatoes, sugar and ginger in a food processor or blender and blitz a couple of times. Stop the blending when there is still some texture to the mixture.
25. To Serve:
26. Make a slit in the pitta breads.
27. Place two chicken goujons in each pocket.
28. Garnish with a little chilli jam, couscous and sour cream.
29. Serve with chips and couscous salad on the side.