Ingredients
Method
- Marinate the chicken. Combine the chicken thighs with smoked paprika, a drizzle of olive oil and a generous pinch of salt. Leave to marinate for as long as you can - even twenty minutes makes a difference.
- Brown the chicken. Heat a little oil in a large shallow pan over a medium-high heat. Fry the chicken thighs for 4 minutes on each side until deeply golden. Remove and set aside.
- Build the sauce. In the same pan, soften the shallots and garlic over a medium heat until translucent and sweet - don't rush this. Add the harissa paste and smoked paprika and cook for another minute, stirring so nothing catches.
- Simmer. Pour in the coconut milk and crumble in the stock cube. Add the soy sauce and fish sauce and stir everything together. Return the chicken to the pan, nestling it into the sauce. Cover and simmer gently for 10–15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened.
- Finish. In the last couple of minutes of cooking, stir through the fresh coriander and spring onion - adding them late keeps them vibrant rather than letting them disappear into the sauce. Finish with a squeeze of lime.
- To serve, spoon over fluffy basmati rice and top generously with fresh pomegranate seeds, sliced spring onion, sesame seeds and fresh coriander.
Notes
Don't skimp on the shallots - six to eight might seem like a lot but they melt down beautifully and give the sauce a real sweetness and depth that one or two simply can't deliver.
The marinating time genuinely matters here. If you can get the chicken in the marinade in the morning before work, the flavour payoff by dinner is significant.
Leftovers reheat really well the next day - the sauce gets even better overnight.