Chicken tikka with kachumber and roti
A wonderful dish full of plenty of fresh ingredients, plus low in salt, potassium and phosphate.
Chef
Ingredients
Chicken tikka
30g fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
10g garlic, peeled weight (about 2-3 cloves)
10g green chillies (1 small chilli), stalk and seeds removed, then roughly chopped
30ml rice vinegar
½ teaspoon smoked paprika (sweet or spicy, depending how fiery you like it)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 ½ teaspoons granulated or caster sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
500g boneless and skinless chicken thighs
Kachumber
½ red onion
1 large or 2 medium tomatoes (about 200g)
Half a cucumber (200g)
Leaves from about 8 sprigs of coriander
Juice of ½ lime
To serve
1 lime, cut into 4 wedges
4 rotis or chapatis (alternatively, use wholewheat flatbread/wrap or toasted and cut wholemeal pitta)
4 heaped tablespoons Greek yoghurt
Method
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Step 1
Marinade the chicken: blitz all the ingredients apart from the chicken (in a blender or mini food processor) to make a smooth paste. Cut each chicken thigh into 3 pieces and pat dry with kitchen paper, then put into a bowl. Pour the marinade over the chicken and gently mix to coat. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 6 to 24 hours.
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Step 2
Take the marinated chicken out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking. Start the kachumber: slice the red onion into fine strips, place in a small bowl and cover with cold water. Quarter the tomato, remove and discard the seeds, then slice the flesh into thin strips and place in a large bowl. Slice the cucumber in half lengthways and use a teaspoon to scoop out the seeds (discard these). Slice the cucumber into thin crescents and add to the tomato.
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Step 3
Cook the chicken: heat the grill to high. Thread the chicken onto skewers, leaving a little space between the pieces so the heat can cook it through, and lay them out onto a large baking tray (you can line it with foil to make the washing-up easier). Grill for about 15 minutes, turning halfway through, until the chicken is deep golden brown with some charred edges. Check a piece to make sure it is cooked all the way through. Leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
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Step 4
While the chicken is cooking, drain the onion, pat dry with kitchen paper and add this to the tomato and cucumber. Stir and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Roughly chop the coriander leaves.
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Step 5
Warm up the rotis: sprinkle each side lightly with water, then heat in a preheated dry frying pan for 30 seconds on each side, or in a warm oven for 2 or 3 minutes.
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Step 6
When ready to serve, add the chopped coriander leaves to the salad, squeeze over the lime juice and mix well. Serve the chicken with a wedge of lime per person, the roti and salad. Spread a spoonful of yoghurt onto the roti should you wish.
Food facts
The roti, chapati or tortilla is the main source of carbohydrate in this dish and the values have been provided for those who have trained in insulin adjustment.
This dish is low in potassium; if you have been advised to restrict your potassium, please keep to the quantities and serving sizes suggested. This dish is low in phosphate, however does contain some phosphate which is provided by the chicken. If you have been prescribed a phosphate binder, ensure you take them with this dish.
This is a high protein dish, therefore suitable for those advised to increase their protein intake.
Use gluten-free rotis, chapatis or pittas.
To reduce the fat in this dish you could use a reduced-fat Greek yoghurt and replace the chicken thighs with breast, however, the result will be drier and not as tasty, and you would need to reduce the cooking time by about five minutes.
To avoid wastage, you can open-freeze chopped herbs for use another time. Peel a lump of fresh root ginger and keep it in the freezer for use as and when you need it - it grates well from frozen. If chapatis or rotis are not available, then you could use a pitta bread instead - just pop them in the toaster to warm through.
Leftover chicken is delicious and can be stored for up to three days in a container in the fridge. If you have more rotis than you need, you can put them (before warming them up) in the freezer for use another time.
Ideally, make the kachumber just before serving, but if you want to get ahead, you can prep the vegetables a few hours in advance and keep them covered in separate bowls in the fridge until you’re ready to add the coriander leaves and lime juice to mix together and serve. If you want to dish to be spicier, do not remove the chilli pepper seeds, leave them in the dish.