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Lemony Chicken with Fresh Coriander

A Sri Lankan chicken dish simmered in lemon juice, coriander, and spices.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Cumin and turmeric match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,698 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Lemony Chicken with Fresh Coriander

Time15 minutes, then 10-15 minutes more

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Put the ginger and 4 tablespoons of the water into the container of an electric blender and blend until you have a paste.

  2. Pound the thicker part of each chicken fillet slightly to flatten it.

Brown the chicken

  1. Heat the oil in a wide, heavy, preferably non-stick pot over a medium-high flame.

  2. When hot, put in as many chicken pieces as the pot will hold in a single layer and brown on both sides.

  3. Remove the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon and put them in a bowl.

  4. Brown all the chicken pieces this way.

Make the curry

  1. Put the garlic into the same hot oil.

  2. As soon as the pieces turn a medium brown color, turn heat to medium and pour in the paste from the blender.

  3. Stir and fry it for a minute.

  4. Now add the fresh coriander, green chili, cayenne, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, and salt.

  5. Stir and cook for a minute.

  6. Put in all the chicken pieces as well as any liquid that might have accumulated in the chicken bowl.

  7. Also add 2/3 cup water and the lemon juice.

  8. Stir and bring to a boil.

Simmer until tender

  1. Cover tightly, turn heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes.

  2. Turn the chicken pieces over.

  3. Cover again and cook another 10-15 minutes or until chicken is tender.

  4. If the sauce is too thin, uncover the pot and boil some of it away over a slightly higher heat.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

325Calories
33 gProtein
18 gFat
8 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Turmeric1 tsp ground (3g)9
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Coriandernot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cumin + turmerictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,698 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Coriander + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,866 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Ginger + turmerictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,776 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Coriander + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,498 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chicken parts
Provide the main protein, which browns first and then becomes tender while simmering in the sauce.
Ginger
Adds aromatic pungency to the paste that flavours the sauce.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma and savoury depth when fried in the hot oil.
Fresh coriander
Adds fresh herbal aroma and body to the curry sauce.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the sauce.
Ground cumin
Adds warm, earthy aroma that builds the spice base of the sauce.

The step that matters

Brown the chicken in batches. Crowding the pot lowers the oil temperature and steams the chicken instead of browning it. Browning in a single layer builds the colour and flavour that carry into the sauce.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ginger, chicken, garlic, coriander, cumin, turmeric, lemon):

  1. Cardamomfits better
  2. Oreganofits better
  3. Fennelfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ginger, chicken, garlic, coriander, cumin, turmeric, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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