Queen Elizabeth's coronation chicken recipe: Here's how to make it at home

With King Charles' coronation set to happen on the first week of May, the royal family has announced a quiche as the official coronation dish. The official Royal.uk website also provided the coronation quiche recipe for those who want to prepare it at home in order to celebrate the grand day.

If you too want to join in on trying out royal family approved dishes this week, but would like to cook something other than a quiche, perhaps you can try your hand at Queen Elizabeth's coronation chicken, which has become an iconic and beloved part of English culinary landscape.

Here's a brief history of this dish, and a recipe by the BBC to make the coronation chicken at home.

History of Queen Elizabeth's coronation chicken

According to Le Cordon Bleu, Sir David Eccles, the Minister of Works during the 1950s, asked the Le Cordon Bleu, which is a culinary institution, to come up with a special dish to mark the occasion of Queen Elizabeth's Coronation Luncheon in 1953. This is how the origins of the dish we now know as coronation chicken came to be. The recipe was originally called 'Poulet Reine Elizabeth,'

The Cordon Bleu describes the dish as,

It is described as chicken, boned and coated in curry cream sauce, with, one end of each dish, a well-seasoned dressed salad of rice, green peas and pimentos.

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Recipe for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation chicken

The original recipe for coronation chicken consisted of roasted chicken, water and a little wine with carrot, a bouquet garni, salt, peppercorns and a cream of curry sauce. Here is a recipe for you to make the the royal chicken dish as home, as published in BBC Good Food. The recipe is credited to The Hairy Bikers.

Ingredients

Cooking time: 20-30 minutes, Serves: 4

• 2 chicken breasts without skin
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lemon
• butter
• 1 finely chopped shallot
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 tsp madras curry powder
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 100ml/3½fl oz dry white wine
• 100ml/3½fl oz chicken stock
• 1 tbsp apricot jam
• 150ml/5fl oz mayonnaise
• 75ml/3fl oz crème fraîche
• 1 large mango, diced
• 4 spring onions, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander
• Tabasco sauce
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• Slather chicken breasts with olive oil, then add lemon zest, salt and pepper
• Steam chicken until cooked, and set aside
• Melt butter in a pan, add shallots and chilli and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in curry powder and cook further for 2–3 minutes. Add tomato purée and cook for a further minute. Then pour in wine and simmer until the liquid reduces by half
• Stir in jam and stock, and simmer until the liquid reduces by half. Set aside to cool.
• In a separate bowl, mix mayonnaise and crème fraîche, then add in the curry dressing. In the same bowl, add mango, spring onions, lemon juice and coriander and mix.
• Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Mix in curry dressing and season with salt, pepper and Tabasco to taste.

Your coronation chicken is ready for your to enjoy however you like. You can serve it with a side of salad or sandwiched in between two slices of bread.

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Sources used:

Le Cordon Bleu: 'The history behind the Coronation Chicken Recipe'

BBC: 'Perfect coronation chicken'

Tasting Table: 'How Coronation Chicken Was Invented For Queen Elizabeth II'