Thai Basil Chili Chicken with Cashew Nuts

Ingredients

• 1 kg chicken (1 small whole chicken; ready to cook)
• 1 Red Onion
• 2 bell peppers (red and yellow)
• 2 carrots
• 4 Garlic cloves
• 20 g galangal root
• 1 stalk lemongrass
• 3 red chilies
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp palm sugar
• 1 tbsp peanut oil
• 200 ml poultry broth
• 3 kaffir lime leaves
• Salt
• Pepper
• 250 g Basmati rice
• 1 tbsp Cornstarch
• 120 g baby corn cobs
• 400 g pak choi
• 1 handful Thai basil leaves
• 75 g roasted cashew nuts

Instructions

1. 1.

   Rinse the chicken inside and out with cold water, pat dry, and trim as much skin as possible with a knife; place in the refrigerator until ready to use. Put the chicken in a roasting pan.

2. 2.

   Peel the onion and cut into large pieces. Halve the bell peppers, remove seeds, wash, and cut into large pieces. Peel and slice the carrots. Arrange the vegetables around the chicken.

3. 3.

   Peel and finely chop garlic and galangal. Wash lemongrass and slice. Split chilies lengthwise, remove seeds, wash, and mince. Blend garlic, lemongrass, galangal, chilies, fish sauce, sugar, oil, broth, kaffir lime leaves, salt, and pepper in a blender until smooth; pour over the chicken. Roast the chicken in a preheated oven at 160 °C (fan 140 °C; gas: level 2) for 1–1½ hours. Remove the chicken, break it apart, removing cartilage and bones.

4. 4.

   Cook rice in 2½ times the amount of salted water according to package instructions for 30–35 minutes. Set the oven to grill mode and place the chilled chicken skin on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Season the skin with salt and grill in the oven for 12–15 minutes until crisp.

5. 5.

   Transfer the stock created by cooking the chicken into a pot and bring to a boil over the stove. Whisk cornstarch with a little cold water, stir into the stock, and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Meanwhile wash corn cobs and pak choi; halve the corn cobs lengthwise, cut pak choi into bite‑sized pieces, and add both to the sauce in the last 5 minutes. Add the shredded chicken back in and reheat. Warm the rice briefly before serving if desired.

6. 6.

   Shake basil dry. Plate the chicken over the rice. Garnish with cashew nuts and Thai basil leaves, topping with the crispy chicken skin.