I can't believe this recipe has not yet featured here, since it's possibly the one which set me off on a culinary journey for discovery of new interesting flavours. Many years ago, the unique combination of spices used in this stew woke up my curiosity in food which still continues today. Sadly, this fantastic combination was not my original idea, but a recipe of a French chef, popular in Poland at the time. It set me on a quest to find a spice mix called garam masala, of which hardly anyone heard at the time, that changed my approach to food completely. Now that I think of it, even zucchini were not exactly a popular vegetable back then, so easily available everywhere as it is today. Finally, equipped with the ingredients (which also include fennel seeds, which are not very common in Poland even today) I made this amazingly comforting dish which I continue to make often ever since.
It is also a perfect dish to make if you're thinking about your lunchbox and so with this recipe I start a new category of recipes that are fit for that purpose.
You'll need:
one chicken breast
one medium size onion
one medium size zucchini (or a few small ones)
green olives
black olives (mostly for the colour)
pepper cayenne
fennel seeds
garam masala (you can make your own blend)
basmati or jasmin rice to serve with
1. Slice the onion and soften it in a pot for around 3 minutes. In the meantime cut the zucchini and add it to the pot with the onion. Add fennel seeds, garam masala and a bit of water. Zucchini is strongly hygroscopic, and so it has a tendency to take in all the oil it can get - to avoid the stew from getting too oily, add some water (I often use the water from the olives to get more flavour in).
2. Put some oil on a pan and add pepper cayenne on it. Once it gets warm enough to give away the aroma, add previously cut chicken breast. Cover it in pepper cayenne and fry for around 3-4 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces. Add the olives, leave for another 30 seconds and then transfer to the pot with the zucchini.
3. Simmer some more, allowing the flavours to mix, et voila!
4. Serve with rice.
Buon appetito!
