Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Finish the linked homemade coconut milk and measure the strained, stirred milk. Have the separately prepared cauliflower rice ready, or cook it alongside the chicken following its own linked method. Chop the onion and tomatoes, grate the ginger, and crush the garlic.
- Mix the cumin, coriander, turmeric, optional cayenne, salt, and black pepper in a shallow dish. Press both sides of each whole chicken thigh into the spice mixture until coated. Leave the coated chicken in the dish while the pan warms.
- Add the coconut oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Allow about five minutes for the oil to melt and the pan to warm, overlapping with the ingredient preparation. Add the thighs in one layer. They can touch but must not overlap; cook in batches if needed.
- Cook the chicken for about ten to fifteen minutes on each side. Turn with tongs. Look for a browned yellow-gold coating, lowering the heat if spices blacken before the center cooks. Check each piece: the thickest part must reach 165°F. Transfer fully cooked chicken to a plate and keep warm. Leave the skillet and browned pan juices for the sauce.
- Add the chopped onion to the used chicken skillet. Stir and sauté for five minutes, until softened, moving it through the remaining fat and browned spices.
- Add the tomatoes and cook for another five minutes, until softened and releasing juice. The sauce retains vegetable pieces rather than becoming completely smooth.
- Add the homemade coconut milk, grated ginger, and crushed garlic together. Stir and cook for one to two minutes, until the milk is warm and evenly mixed with the vegetables and pan juices. Expect a pourable sauce.
- Divide the prepared cauliflower rice among four meal portions. Add the chicken and spoon the coconut sauce and softened vegetables over the top. Refrigerate fully cooked leftovers promptly in shallow containers.
Notes
Timing: Five minutes preparation, thirty-five minutes cooking, and forty minutes total are planning estimates with the homemade milk and ingredients ready. Pan warming overlaps preparation. Thigh thickness and extra skillet batches can extend cooking. Linked milk and rice preparation have their own schedules.
Milk: Use the linked rich homemade coconut milk. Finish its heating, complete cooling before blending, and straining before starting this meal. Measure one and three-quarter US cups of finished stirred milk per single batch, equal to fourteen US fluid ounces. Make enough batches; do not assume starting water equals strained yield.
Tomato option: For each single batch, one cup of grape tomatoes can be replaced with two medium tomatoes, chopped. At 2× use two cups of grape tomatoes or four medium tomatoes. Omit cayenne for less heat.
Chicken: Weight is the measured quantity; four to six thighs per single batch is an approximate piece count. Cook each thickest part to 165°F. Do not partly cook chicken for later storage.
GAPS: Full GAPS after all ingredients are introduced. Coconut-oil chicken and coconut-oil rice are dairy-free. Follow completed dairy introduction if choosing the rice recipe’s butter or ghee option. This is not an early Intro preparation or a No-Plant recipe.
Scaling: The 2× setting makes eight meal portions and doubles all fourteen ingredient amounts, including the prepared side. Cook the chicken in enough pan space or additional batches; cooking time does not automatically double.
Storage: Refrigerate fully cooked leftovers promptly in shallow containers and use within three to four days, or freeze portions. Thaw in the refrigerator. Reheat chicken and sauce gently until hot throughout and reaching 165°F; stir separated coconut milk back together. Rice can be stored separately.