Maple Yoghurt Chicken

Lunch is here and I’ve been wanting to share this dish for the longest time. 

I’m obsessed with Maple syrup and I use it as a fat. I’m not sure it’s a fat, but I know that it’s a sugar. To avoid added refined sugars in food I tend to add a lot of natural sugars to mine and often it’s around lunchtime. 

This dish is flavoured well with just the right amount of heat, sweet and creamy.

I made this for a friend last week and thought it wouldn’t go down well because it’s ‘too healthy’ but he loved it and so did my mother. I am overjoyed. 

Did you know: Yoghurt is a protein and instead of cream, you can use it in most meals for added protein. I read somewhere this week that humans consume more protein than they even realise. I usually serve this dish with quinoa. But in turn, that’s a bit too much protein at lunchtime for me because this grain is considered a protein and a carb. 

Ingredients for 6 meals

2 packets of chicken strips from Woolworths (1/2 kg of chicken breast approximately)

1 tsp jeera seeds

1 tsp peri-peri spice

1 onion, sliced

1 tsp ginger

2 cloves of garlic, chopped 

1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes

1 punnet mushrooms, sliced (I use specialty mushrooms for more flavour)

1/2 bag baby spinach

 2 cups yoghurt

1/4 cup maple syrup

salt to taste

black pepper

Method

1. Fry jeera seeds, onions, garlic, and ginger together.

2. Add spice and turmeric if you have. It helps the immune system fight. Stir it.

3. Add the chicken strips and mushrooms, fry it in the onions and the spices until it’s seared on all sides.

4. Chuck in the yoghurt and stir everything together. Lower the heat to a little under medium and let the chicken simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Add spinach, and tomatoes and simmer for another 5-10 minutes until the gravy starts to thicken. If this is happening too slowly, take the lid off the pot and watch your dish simmer until it’s the right consistency.

6. Season well with salt and black pepper

7. Serve with fluffy brown rice, millet, or quinoa.