A simple and delicious Turkish chicken dish that is incredibly easy to make and the perfect healthy comfort food.
If you love tomato sauces in general – I go through phases of pretty much living on tomato sauces at times, and let’s face it, many others do too! They are just so easy, inexpensive, healthy and delicious – chicken tava is a great way to turn a classic staple meal into something a little more exciting. Or simply add a bit of variety in your day to day meals.
The key ingredient is harissa paste – a hot red pepper paste blended with herbs and spices. You can find it in most major supermarkets here in London, but if you live anywhere near a Turkish or ethnic supermarket/corner shop, I would recommend having a look in there first as they tend to sell much better ones in my opinion!
Easy Turkish Chicken Recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 medium chicken breast
- 2 medium onions
- 1 and half bell pepper
- 2 handfuls button mushrooms (or closed cup mushrooms)
- 5-7 garlic cloves
- 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 3 heaped Tbsp Harissa paste
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp butter (optional)
- Salt and black pepper
- Olive oil
Directions
- Roughly chop all the vegetables, finely chop the garlic and dice the chicken breast.
- Pan fry the onions in a bit of olive oil on low/medium heat. As the onion start to soften up, add the mushrooms and garlic and carry on frying for a couple of minutes. Add the chicken and cook enough to seal the outer layer.
- Add the tin of tomato, 200ml water (basically half of the empty tin), the harissa paste, tomato paste, butter, salt, black pepper and let it simmer, stirring occasionally.
- As the tomatoes start to break down, add the bell pepper (and a little bit of extra water if it’s looking too ‘dry’). Carry on cooking until the tomatoes have broken down, the bell pepper chunks have softened up and the excess water has evaporated.
Enjoy!
