How to Make Coronation Chicken (Gordon Ramsay’s Recipe)

I have to admit I am a huge fan of Coronation Chicken in it’s many forms. In the UK, you can find a Coronation Chicken sandwich in most shops or deli’s. But the mayonnaise drenched version, that is often found, is very far from the original recipe that was created for Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation – hence the name!

The recipe below is a mix of a few that I found on the internet including Felicity Cloake’s How to Cook Perfect Coronation Chicken and Gordon Ramsay’s version. I adjusted them slightly but I did make my own mayo as both of the above suggest. I think that it probably adds a certain level of richness but I don’t think that many people would notice if you used Hellmans. I planned to use mango but Rich kindly went to the shops and came back with a very unripe one. Hence, the recipe below uses the traditional sultanas.

Yet again I seem to have written a recipe that has (what seems to be) a lot of ingredients. It is mainly the spices (as always) and these can be played around with. I would highly recommend seeking out the Nigella seeds (otherwise known as Onion seeds) as they add an original flavour and also look pretty.

Recipe: Coronation Chicken

Summary: This makes a beautiful summer lunch. If you don’t have all of the spices below don’t worry, a decent curry powder should give you a nice flavour. I think that next time I will add more turmeric (one more ingredient) to add an additional yellow colour.

Ingredients

  • 4 x Chicken Thighs
  • 5 Peppercorns
  • 2 Cloves
  • 2 Cardamom Pods
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
  • 1/2 tsp Coriander Seeds
  • 1 tbsp Sultanas
  • 1/2 Portion of Mayonnaise (about 3 tbsps if you aren’t making your own)
  • 1 tbsp Mango Chutney
  • 1/2 Red Onion – Sliced
  • 1/2 tsp Chilli Flakes
  • 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
  • 1/2 tsp Curry Powder
  • 1 tsp Nigella Seeds
  • 1 little Gem Lettuce

Instructions

  1. If your chicken has skins remove them and trim off any excess fat.
  2. Place the chicken into a saucepan, cover with water and add the peppercorns, cloves, cardamom pods, cumin and coriander.
  3. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 minutes. Check the chicken is cooked through (you shouldn’t see any blood coming out when you poke them with a knife) and leave to cool in the cooking liquid; this will take about an hour but you can speed it up slightly by putting it in your fridge.
  4. Before you put the chicken in the fridge, put a couple of ladles of cooking liquor into a bowl and add the sultanas. If you have one, put it into the microwave for about 30 seconds which will help plump up the sultanas otherwise you can heat it up on the hob.
  5. In a bowl mix the mayonnaise, mango chutney, onion and remaining spices. Taste the mix to see if it is to your liking – it should be slightly sweet and spiced but not hot.
  6. Once the chicken has cooled, shred it away from the bones into bite sized pieces; add to the spiced mayonnaise and add the sliced onions.
  7. Strain the sultanas and add to the rest of the ingredients.
  8. Give everything a final mix, check for seasoning and serve on a bed of lettuce. I would use either iceberg or iced gem, as you want something with texture that doesn’t fight with the delicate spicing in the chicken.

Quick notes

A really nice accompaniment to this is to boil new potatoes in the spiced, chicken cooking liquor. The end result is a delicately spiced potato which goes perfectly with the chicken and doesn’t need any butter!

Variations

This recipe has endless possibilities. I have only ever made it with leftovers before but I think that poaching the chicken adds another depth of flavour.

Preparation time: 30 minute(s)

Cooking time: 20 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 2

Culinary tradition: English

2 thoughts on “How to Make Coronation Chicken (Gordon Ramsay’s Recipe)”

  1. fabulous blog site and my first foray into blog-land!! Just enjoyed a wonderful holiday with david and ellen and will try your recipes as soon as I can figure out the gram thing!! Keep uup the good work. I also loved your photos. come visit the US again.

    1. Hey Betsy – I am glad you like the blog 🙂 I was thinking of making a banana cake this weekend so I’ll see if I can work it out in cups – to be honest I think it’s a much easier way of baking x

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