From Harvest to Table | Basil Chicken in Ginger Coconut Sauce

Next to lavender, basil is my favorite herb. In our former house where space is limited for planting, I made it a point to plant basil in big pots{ here and here }. Now that I have enough space, I planted  3 different types of basil {sweet basil, Thai basil and the Greek bush basil } - all so fragrant but each have their own distinct flavour. Among the three, I find the sweet basil the perfect herb for anything cooked with coconut.

Basil is one that benefits from frequent cuttings.I learned many moons ago that cutting helps it spread out sideways and develop healthy greens. This is my 4th harvest and all the plants are still eager to give more! I also make sure to snip off the flowers {which I love to include in my cooking or plating} as soon as I see them to prevent the plant from becoming tall and leggy.

For yesterday's harvest, here's a chicken dish that has become a staple here at home when basil is abundant. A perfect comfort food best eaten with boiled rice!

Basil Chicken in Ginger Coconut Sauce

Ingredients

1 kilo chicken cut in small pieces {I used chicken thigh for more flavour}

3 tbsp cooking oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 big cloves of garlic, minced

1 thumb-size piece of ginger, thinly sliced

1 piece Thai chili pepper {optional}, thinly sliced

1 can coconut milk {398 ml}

20-30 pieces sweet basil leaves

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper corn

lime wedges

Procedure

Heat oil in cooking pot

Brown both sides of chicken pieces then set aside

In the same pot {reduce oil if chicken rendered more fats while browning}, saute onion, garlic, ginger and chili pepper. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pot while sauteing to get the chicken flavour

Add chicken back to the pot

Add fish sauce and cover pot for a minute

Pour coconut milk, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, stir regularly 

Add basil leaves, sugar and ground pepper corn

At this point, add salt if needed

Cook until coconut milk is silky and thicker, again stir regularly to prevent coconut milk from sticking at the bottom of the pan

Serve with boiled rice and squeeze a wedge of lime on top of the dish

For vegetarian version, I replaced chicken with eggplant and cauliflower. Just as delicious!

Linking with : Our Simple Homestead
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