Coronation Chicken

Ingredients

• 800g skinless chicken breasts
• 1 onion, halved
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 250g good mayonnaise
• 100g Greek yoghurt
• 1 small onion, very finely chopped
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp mild curry powder
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 100ml red wine
• 3 tbsp apricot jam
• Juice of half a lemon
• 50g flaked almonds
• 3 tbsp chopped coriander
• Salt and black pepper

Before you cook

• Halve one onion for poaching and very finely chop the other.
• Toast the flaked almonds in a dry pan over medium heat for three minutes until golden, then tip them onto a plate.
• Chop the coriander.

Steps

1. Put the chicken breasts in a pan with the halved onion, bay leaf and peppercorns.
2. Cover the chicken with cold water and add a teaspoon of salt.
3. Bring the pan to a bare simmer over medium heat, then immediately turn the heat to low.
4. Poach the chicken for twelve minutes, keeping the water barely moving.
5. Turn off the heat and leave the chicken in the liquid for a further ten minutes to finish cooking gently.
6. Lift the chicken out and leave it to cool completely on a plate.
7. Heat the sunflower oil in a small pan over medium-low heat and add the finely chopped onion.
8. Cook the onion for six minutes until soft.
9. Stir in the curry powder and turmeric and fry for one minute until the kitchen smells strongly of spice.
10. Add the tomato puree and cook for one minute more.
11. Pour in the red wine and simmer for four minutes until the pan is nearly dry.
12. Stir in the apricot jam and 100ml of water and simmer for three minutes into a thick paste.
13. Push the spice paste through a sieve into a bowl and leave it to cool completely.
14. Whisk the mayonnaise and yoghurt into the cooled paste until the sauce is a uniform pale gold.
15. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper, tasting as you go.
16. Tear or cut the cold chicken into bite-sized pieces and fold them through the sauce.
17. Chill the coronation chicken for at least thirty minutes so the flavours settle.
18. Scatter over the toasted almonds and coriander just before serving with lettuce or in sandwiches.