MM's Cheap Eats: Mexican citrus chicken

By Melanie Hughes

Eat chicken often? Always do the same couple of dishes with it? Well, MM’s resident foodie has something to spice things up a bit, literally! It’s really easy too.

2 chicken breasts

2 tbsp crushed coriander seeds (ground coriander will do though)

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried chillies

1 tsp Demerara sugar

100 grams flour

1 tsp salt and pepper

Splash of fresh lime juice

1 tsp olive oil (for frying)

For this recipe you coat the chicken in the flour and spices mixture so it’s best to fry it rather than grill it because the flour keeps the chicken moist and also gives it a nice colour and slight crust.

If you haven’t done chicken like that before then you can use whatever herbs and spices you like – but this one is a particular favourite in my household!

Ok, first, simply get a plate and put the flour, coriander, thyme, chillies, salt and pepper onto it and mix it around to make one mixture. There’s no need to coat the chicken in beaten eggs or anything as the mixture is very fine and will stick to the raw chicken itself.

Set the plate aside and put the raw chicken into a plastic bag or freezer bag and tie at the top. Then, think of something that’s annoyed you slightly, and with a rolling pin, just bash the chicken until it’s evenly flat. You want it about 1cm thick so don’t go too mad! This will ensure the chicken cooks evenly and quickly.

Heat oil in a pan on a medium to high heat and add the olive oil, when it is heated, coat the chicken on both sides in the flour mixture and put straight into the pan. Make sure the oil in the pan is hot before adding the chicken otherwise it’ll go greasy.

When you turn the chicken over, on the cooked sides, sprinkle over half of the sugar and do the same on the other side. Make sure each side gets at least 30 seconds cooking time after the sugar has been added to make sure it’s cooked off – you don’t want to be crunching on sugar granules!

When the chicken is cooked through and both sides and browned, throw on the splash of lime at the very last minute, remove from the pan and serve. If you add the lime just too soon and keep cooking the chicken instead it’ll go too bitter and it won’t be very enjoyable.

I served this up with some bulgar wheat with peas and beans but it would work just as well with rice, cous cous or just a simple salad.

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