Coronation Chicken (thing)

A mildly-spiced chicken dish, popular in Britain where it is often found as a filling for sandwiches or served cold with pasta as a salad. The recipe was apparently invented for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 for part of the royal wedding feast, by a chef named Constance Spry.

What follows is the classic Coronation Chicken recipe, but as with most recipes, this is a guideline rather than a hard and fast rule.

Ingredients

• 1 large cooked chicken (approx 2.5 kgs, poached is better than roast
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp curry paste or curry powder
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 100 ml red wine
• 1 bay leaf
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 4 apricot halves -- canned wlil suffice if fresh aren't available
• 300 ml mayonnaise
• 100 ml whipping cream

Method

1. Remove the flesh of the chicken from the bones and cut it into small bite-size pieces
2. In a small saucepan, heat the oil, add the onion and cook until soft
3. Add the curry paste, tomato purée, wine, bay leaf and lemon juice
4. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until well reduced
5. Strain and leave to cool
6. Purée the apricot halves and blend with the mayonnaise
7. Beat the mayonnaise/apricot mixture into the cooled sauce
8. Whip the cream until stiff and fold into the mixture
9. Season with salt and black pepper and serve garnished with watercress