Chicken choyela

45 MINUTES | SERVES 4-6

EASY |

Choyela (or choila) is one of my go-to comfort dishes. A popular street food all over Nepal, it is particularly famous in Kathmandu where it originated from. Mum used to make choyela at home whenever we had family gatherings, and my sister and I used to eat it sneakily as an after-school snack, which our mum did not approve of. As I entered my rebellious teenage years, I found comfort eating choyela as a snack to accompany drinking with my friends and cousins. When I make choyela these days it brings back all those fond memories. Hence, I always keep this dish on our menu as it is my way of honouring and reminiscing about those happy times.

LC GF

skinless chicken breasts 450g

beef tomato 1

ground cumin 1 tsp

ground coriander 1 tsp

garam masala 1 tsp (optional) lime or lemon juice (fresh or bottled) 2 tbsp timur or sichuan peppercorns ground to make Ω tbsp (see cook’s notes)

dried chilli flakes 1-2 tbsp (depending on how spicy you like it)

spring onions 6

garlic 2 cloves, very thinly sliced

• Half fill a large pan with cold water, put in the chicken breasts, bring it to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until the breasts have cooked – add the tomato to the water for the final 5 minutes.

• Drain the water (you can reserve it to be used as a stock or to make chicken soup). Once the chicken has cooled, dice the breasts into small pieces or use forks to shred them. Peel the skin off the tomato. Transfer the chicken and tomato to a mixing bowl.

• Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and use your hands or a spoon to combine everything, crushing the tomato as you do.

• To temper, heat the oil in a large pan over a high heat. When the oil is hot, add fenugreek seeds. Once they have coloured, turn off the heat, add the green chillies and cook for a few seconds. Move the pan away from the hot hob and add turmeric. Immediately pour this mixture over the mixing bowl – it should sizzle. To avoid the pungent fumes it’s best to do this either by an open window or under an extractor fan, and keep an arm’s length away to avoid any splattering hot oil.

• Add the coriander and mix well. Leave it for at least 5 minutes – the longer the better for the flavours to infuse. Serve on its own or with a flatbread or roti, or in a lettuce wrap (my personal favourite). The choyela can be stored in the fridge up to three days and can be served at either room temperature or cold.

COOK’S NOTES

Timur is a Nepali variety of sichuan pepper and is available online and in some Asian supermarkets.

PER SERVING (4) 336 KCALS | FAT 19.1G

SATURATES 3.2G | CARBS 8.3G | SUGARS 5.9G

FIBRE 3.7G | PROTEIN 30.8G | SALT 0.3G