Imagine. A spoon in one hand. The TV remote in the other. A steaming bowl of goodness in front of you. This is the beauty of this Sunday night favourite. It’s delicate, light and subtle, but supremely hearty, and is so melt-in-your-mouth it can be eaten with a spoon and mopped up with bread while streaming your favourite.

I call it stoop — something between a stew and a soup — and you can tailor it to your taste either way simply by lessening the amount of stock in the recipe. Cumin, cinnamon, and currants give it a sweetness and smoothness that works really well with the chicken. Toasted almond flakes add crunch and pizazz. They are the jazz hands of this dish!!

Because it’s super, super tender, it’s great for little tastebuds, as well as older ones that require soft textures (minus almonds, unless crushed, of course). It’s also nice if someone’s a little unwell, because it’s so mild, and you can adjust the soup to stew ratio when serving.

Speaking of texture, most chicken stew recipes cook in a much shorter time than this. Because of my issue with textures, I ensure the thighs are REALLY falling apart, but you don’t have to. No one I have made it for has ever said the meat should be more fulsome. I make a great big batch so I can freeze lots of portions, which is where the liquid also comes in handy.

“Then he disappeared into the caravan for an instant, and returned with a large iron plate and a knife, fork, and spoon. He tilted up the pot, and a glorious stream of hot rich stew gurgled into the plate. It was, indeed, the most beautiful stew in the world …”
-Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

Ingredients

1½ kg chicken thighs, extra fat removed, halved
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 carrots, roughly chopped into 1cm chunks
3 large potatoes, roughly chopped into 2cm chunks, rinsed to remove some of the starch
1 litre chicken stock (if you prefer more stew than soup use 750ml – ensure gluten free if this is required)
2 tins cherry tomato, 400g
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
150 g dried currants
1 tsp brown sugar
plain flour, for dusting (or gluten free if required)
½ cup flaked almonds, toasted
olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs, zest of 1 lemon

Instructions

Dust chicken thighs in flour and brown in olive oil in large saucepan. Remove and set aside. Drain any excess oil.
In same pan fry onion, then sweat off carrots. Add in garlic, cinnamon and cumin and stir for a minute.
Add tomatoes, stock, currants and brown sugar. Bring to boil.
Add the chicken thighs to liquid and bring temperature down to a low simmer.
Simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Remove lid, turn up temperature slightly and add in potatoes and lemon zest half an hour before serving and cook until potatoes are tender.
Season and add herbs. Garnish with further herbs and toasted almonds.