Sous Vide Curried Chicken Thighs

Lately I’ve been drawn to the flavors of Middle Eastern food. On a trip out to the city, my fiancé and I enjoyed shawarma together a local Lebanese restaurant. Shawarma is a beautiful spit-grilled meat, served in a pita with fresh vegetables (often Tabbouleh), and sometimes tahini or hummus. Inspired by that flavor, I set out to create a sous-vide chicken thigh with the same Middle Eastern spice and recreate the grill flavor using my lovely new torch. The spice paste I created turned out with more of a curry flavor than originally intended, but we loved it.
Maybe the reason Middle Eastern food speaks to me can be explained by ancestral background–I found out in a DNA test that I have some Sephardi roots. Whatever the reason, my fiancé has not complained one bit.
Kosher Status : Meat
| Ingredients |
- Eight garlic cloves
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons cumin
- 2 tablespoons coriander
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons allspice
- 2 teaspoons turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- 8 pieces boneless, skinless chicken thighs
| Directions |
- Preheat your sous-vide set-up to 165°F (74°C).
- Combine all of the ingredients, with the exception of the chicken thighs, into a food processor and grind into a thick paste.
- Rub the paste all over the chicken thighs and place into either a vacuum sealing bag or into a Zip-Lock type bag. Seal using your vacuum sealer or, if using a Zip-Lock type bag, use the Archimedes principle.
- Place the bags into the preheated sous-vide water bath and ensure the bags are submerged. Cook for one to up to four hours.
- After the chicken has cooked, remove from the bags and place into a cast iron pan. Brown/char the chicken using either a high-powered propane torch (not a butane torch, such as those sold for making creme brûlée – they’re much too wimpy!) or under your oven’s broiler set to high.
- Serve with rice or couscous.
Note: The chicken can be grilled if you don’t have a sous-vide set up.
All photos are by Thirteenth Knight Photo © 2015
1 comment