Coronation Chicken is a dish which was originally created in 1953. It was created for Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation. The dish very simple and is made with chicken. Cooked chicken is mixed into a mayonnaise sauce flavoured with curry powder.
The recipe is very simple. It takes time, as the chicken needs to be cooked. However, it can be made with ready-cooked chicken. That makes the whole thing much simpler.
For my recipe, though, I poached the chicken myself. That is easy enough to do, and doesn’t take too long.
Once you have poached, and cooled, chicken it just has to be added into a spiced sauce. Most recipes include soft dried apricots, or some sultanas, as well as some curry powder and ginger. That combination creates a wonderfully rich sauce. The cooled chicken is stirred into the sauce and then it is served cold.
Some people like to eat Coronation Chicken in sandwiches, which does work very well. Others, like me, enjoy it with a baked potato and some salad. It is also great served in a wrap with some salad. Indeed it can be served just as you like.
Just before serving some chopped coriander is stirred into the dish. It is often served with some flaked almonds sprinkled over the top too. That is what I did for mine, to give an extra texture.
My Coronation Chicken
My dish turned out very well. The chicken was poached in some spices giving a nice flavour. The sauce, so easy to make, was sweet and savoury and so fully of flavour. The combination of chicken and sauce worked so well. Served with a baked potato and some salad it made a perfect dinner on a very warm day.
Without too much effort, and just a little patience, this makes an excellent dinner.
Another very simple dinner recipe is Beef Stroganoff – Quick & Easy.
Coronation Chicken – Easy Recipe
Course: Stove top recipesCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes1
hour30
minutesIngredients
- Chicken
1 whole chicken, about 1.5kg(3.3 lbs) see note below
1 cinnamon stick
pinch of saffron
5 black peppercorns
6g(1 tsp) salt
1 bay leaf
2cm(3/4 inch) fresh ginger, sliced thinly
Water, enough to cover the chicken in a large pan
- Sauce
200ml(1/2 cup + 1/3 cup) mayonnaise
200ml(1/2 cup + 1/3 cup) natural yoghurt
12g(2 tbsp) curry powder(mild, medium or hot to taste)
2cm(3/4 inch) fresh ginger, minced
125g(5 tbsp) mango chutney
10ml(2 tsp) Worcestershire sauce
chopped coriander to taste
50g(1/2 cup) toasted flaked almonds
50g(2 ounces) soft dried apricots, chopped into small pieces
Directions
- Place the whole chicken into a large pan
- Add the cinnamon stick, saffron, salt, peppercorns, bay leaf and sliced ginger.
- Pour enough water into the pan until the chicken is almost covered.
- Place the pan on the stove and bring to a simmer.
- As soon as it starts to simmer reduce the heat so that only a few bubbles rise to the top, meaning a very low simmer.
- Cover the pan with a lid and poach the chicken for about 1 1/2 hours, until a temperature probe, poked into the thickest part of the thigh, reaches 74C/165F.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and allow it to cool for at least ten minutes.
- Remove the skin from the chicken and discard it.
- Strip all the meat from the chicken and cut it into 1 inch pieces.
- Allow the chicken meat to cool completely.
- Place the curry powder into a frying pan and heat it until the aroma is released.
- Transfer the toasted curry powder to a large bowl.
- Add the yoghurt, mayonnaise, minced ginger and mango chutney and stir well to thoroughly combine everything.
- Stir in the cooled chicken.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
- When you are ready to serve the Coronation Chicken stir through some chopped coriander.
- Once the Coronation Chicken has been served sprinkle over some toasted almonds.
Notes
- If you wish to use the same amount of ready-cooked chicken you can simply make the sauce, from step 11 of the recipe.