Sri Lankan Devilled Chicken

📝 Ingredients

• 450 g chicken breast (3 fillets, about 150 g each)
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 3 tbsp soy sauce (1 for the chicken, 2 for the sauce)
• 210 g basmati rice
• 460 ml water (400 for the rice, 60 for the sauce)
• 1 red onion (about 150 g)
• 1 red pepper + 1 green pepper (about 150 g each)
• 1 tomato (about 120 g)
• 2 garlic cloves + 15 g fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil (1 for the chicken, 1 for the vegetables)
• 2 tbsp tomato purée + 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp sriracha sauce + 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp white vinegar

🍴 Utensils

• Wok or large frying pan
• Saucepan with lid
• Colander
• Cutting board and knife
• Bowls
• Spatula

📖 Steps

1. Rinse the basmati rice in a sieve until the water runs clear. Put it in a saucepan with 400 ml water, bring to the boil, then cover and cook for 12 minutes over a very low heat. Leave to rest for 5 minutes off the heat without lifting the lid.
2. Cut the chicken into strips about 1 cm thick and 5 cm long. Mix them in a bowl with 1 tbsp soy sauce and the cornflour, and leave to marinate while you prepare the vegetables: the cornflour keeps the meat tender and helps the sauce cling.
3. Peel the onion, cut it into quarters, then separate the layers into large petals. Deseed the peppers and cut them into 3 cm squares, and cut the tomato into 8 wedges. Finely chop the garlic and grate the peeled ginger.
4. In a bowl, mix the tomato purée, 2 tbsp soy sauce, the sriracha, chilli flakes, sugar, vinegar and 60 ml water until the sugar has dissolved. The sauce should be spicy, sweet and tangy all at once.
5. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the wok over a high heat until it shimmers. Sear the chicken in a single layer for 4 to 5 minutes, turning it, until golden and white all the way through, then set aside. If the wok is overcrowded, the chicken stews instead of browning: cook it in two batches if needed.
6. Add another 1 tbsp oil to the wok, still over a high heat. Stir-fry the onion and peppers for 3 to 4 minutes: they should colour at the edges but stay crunchy. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for 30 seconds, without letting them burn.
7. Pour in the sauce, add the tomato wedges and return the chicken with its juices. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes over a medium-high heat, until the sauce thickens, turns glossy and coats every piece well.
8. Fluff up the rice with a fork and serve straight away with the piping hot chicken alongside. This dish is properly spicy, as Sri Lankan tradition demands: the plain rice helps to tame the chilli heat.