Coronation Chicken

Adapted from Great British Cooking by Jane Garmey

Serves 4 to 6

Now that we've had a British invasion of cooks and chefs (Nigella, Nigel, Jamie, Delia to name a few), I think we can pretty much agree that great British cooking is not an oxymoron. This book, however, has recipes for standard British fare and might not appeal to everyone. But this dish will.

This recipe for what is really a cold, curried chicken was invented in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953. The coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey was extremely long, and at one point during the proceedings, the Queen and her ladies-in-waiting are reputed to have slipped behind the scenes and fortified themselves with a quick helping of Coronation Chicken.

Coronation Chicken
Adapted from Great British Cooking by Jane Garmey

1 cooked chicken (about three pounds of cooked chicken), chilled
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
½ cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons tomato puree (you could probably use ketchup instead, because 2 teaspoons of tomato puree might be kind of a pain, I never have)
Juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons mango chutney
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup heavy cream, whipped

Shred the chicken into bite-sized (but not tiny) pieces, and set aside.

Cook the onion in the oil in a saucepan over low heat until it is soft and trranslucent but not brown. Add the curry powder to the onion, and cook for a few minutes. Add the stock, tomato puree, lemon juice, and chutney to the pan. Stir until the mixture comes to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes, cool a little, and puree in blender or food processor. Put this mixture into a bowl. When completely cool, add the mayonnaise and whipped cream and mix in. Chill this sauce.

Place the chicken pieces on a serving dish and spoon the sauce over the chicken.

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