Vadouvan Braised Chicken with Cool Radish Raita

Braising might just be my favorite way to cook. With a little bit of prep work on the front end you will be rewarded with so much rich and spicy deliciousness.  Braising is a fundamental cooking technique by which an often tough cut of meat is rendered fork tender through slow cooking submerged in a flavorful broth.  For this recipe I use chicken leg quarters on the bone simmered with aromatic vegetables, fiery red chilies and Vadouvan, our French inspired curry.  Serve with rice, warm naan bread and cool red radish raita.

• 4 chicken leg quarters, roughly 3 pounds 

• 1 Tbsp grapeseed oil

• 1 Tbsp butter

• 1 medium onion, finely diced 

• 1 stalk of celery, chopped 

• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

• 1 large clove of garlic, minced

• 1 large shallot, finely diced 

• 2 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

• 3 Tbsp Vadouvan spice blend 

• ½ cup dry white wine

• 2 cups chicken stock

• 1 Thai bird’s eye chili, split lengthwise (optional)

• 8 petite waxy yellow potatoes, quartered

• 1 15.5 ounce can chickpeas, drained

• Freshly chopped cilantro to garnish

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Warm a large Dutch oven over high heat and season the chicken liberally with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the oil and the butter. When the butter melts and begins to foam lower the heat to medium and brown the chicken on all sides, this should take a few minutes.

When the chicken is well seared remove from the pan, add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, shallot, ginger and tomatoes to the pan. Raise the heat level to high and sweat the vegetables stirring frequently for about two minutes. Add the Vadouvan spice blend and stir into the vegetables, cook this mixture for about 1 minute stirring constantly in order to toast the spices. Deglaze the pan by adding the white wine and scraping up any toasty bits from the bottom of the pan, bring to a boil. Add the chicken stock and return to the boil

If you like spice like we do add the optional Thai chili now.

Return the chicken to the pot and submerge into the sauce, bring back to a simmer. Cover the pot and place in the oven, braise for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the pan from the oven. Stir in the potatoes and chickpeas return to the oven for an additional 30 minutes. Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and serve

Radish Raita

Don’t sleep on this recipe, Raita offers the perfect cooling counterpoint to this spicy and complex curry.

• 1 ½ cups thick Greek yogurt 

• ½ fresh jalapeño, minced

• 2 Tbsp red onion, minced

• 1 cup red radishes, grated

• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

• ⅓ cup cilantro, roughly chopped

• 1 Tbsp fresh mint, roughly chopped

• ½ tsp Deliciouser Signature Seasoned Salt

Mix all ingredients thoroughly and serve well chilled