After a long week, cooking might be the last thing you feel like doing. While cooking often feels like a mini therapy session, sometimes I simply don’t want to cook. This Spiced Chicken Sauté Recipe was made on a Friday night after a very busy week. It takes less than an hour to make and there is very little to clean up afterwards. It’s the perfect way to welcome the weekend but it is easy enough to be made on any weeknight. (The recipe inspiration came from Mridula Balljekar’s cookbook which I highly recommend).

Spiced Chicken Sauté

Ingredients

3-3½ lbs Chicken Breasts
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
3-4 Tsps Cinnamon Powder
Vegetable or Olive Oil

Sauce

25g Butter
2 Tbsp Vegetable or Olive Oil
1 Onion, sliced
4 Garlic Cloves, crushed
2 Large, Ripe Tomatoes
2½ cups Water
1/4 Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Cinnamon Powder
Fresh Red Chili, sliced

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375C. Using a sharp knife, make two slits in each chicken breast. (I usually don’t want juices to run out but this chicken remains very juicy). Rub the chicken with the crushed garlic, cinnamon powder, salt, and pepper. Then, slice the garlic pieces so they can be inserted into the slits in the skin. Drizzle with olive oil and bake until browned (about 30 minutes depending on the size of the chicken breasts).

Moving on to the sauce, heat the butter and oil in a large pan; fry the onion and garlic. Add the water, soy sauce, seasoning, and tomatoes. If you want to add some heat directly into the sauce, add the sliced chili. Boil for 5 minutes or so until reduced.

Add the chicken to the sauce, turning each one over to coat them well. Reduce the heat and slowly cook chicken until it is tender- about 20 minutes. During this time, stir the mixture occasionally and baste the chicken with the sauce.

Serve chicken atop a bed of rice, spooning as much sauce on top as desired. Garnish with extra sliced chili if you want even more heat.

Enjoy!

Chicken Paprikash Recipe
Easy Tandoori Chicken Legs Recipe
Chicken with Mushroom Sauce Recipe