Chicken and mangoes in yogurt
Cooking meat in milk is not new. There was a pork cooked in milk recipe in a 1970s something cookbook that came with our SEB pressure cooker when I was a little girl. I tried it, liked it, and I’ve cooked it many times before. Jamie Oliver has a chicken in milk recipe which has been tried and enjoyed by a mom in Kuwait. I saw a photo from her entry in Food Gawker yesterday and decided I would do my own version. With a twist, naturally. Yogurt instead of milk and with cubes of fresh ripe mangoes.
How did it turn out? Can I brag just this one time? Because it tasted quite heavenly and I am not being melodramatic. It was perfect. The chicken meat was moist and juicy, the sparse sauce was thick with just the right balance between tang and sweetness. And the aroma… Oh, the aroma. It really pays to have fresh herbs growing in the garden. The chopped cilantro blended with the lemon zest and the result was quite extraordinary.
Here is a step-by-step visual guide.
Chop a kilo and a half of chicken into serving-size pieces. You can use any part of the chicken, with or minus the skins. We prefer thighs, drumsticks and backs so those were the parts I used.
Place the cut up chicken in a bowl, season with a tablespoonful of salt and an equal amount of freshly ground pepper. Mix well and leave to marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Take two onions, peel them and roughly chop them up.
Take two ripe and juicy mangoes, split to removed the stones, then score the flesh with a sharp pointed knife to create cubes. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon.
Take a handful of fresh cilantro and roughly chop.
Heat about 3 tablespoonfuls of cooking oil (probably more if you’re not using a non-stick pan) then place the chicken pieces in a single layer in the hot oil. Do NOT move them around for several minutes. Just leave them alone for a while and give them a chance to brown.
You have to cook the chicken over high heat to brown the outside. After letting them fry WITHOUT TOUCHING THEM for about five minutes, check to see how they are browning. The photo above shows how the chicken skins have browned slightly but insuffiently.
This photo shows the color and texture you are aiming for. Golden brown. At this stage, the skins are crisp. Turn the chicken pieces over and cook the other side until they are nicely browned as well.
Scatter the chopped onions, cubed mangoes and chopped cilantro over the browned chicken pieces.
Pour a cup and a half of yogurt over the chicken, mangoes and vegetables. Sprinkle about a teaspoonful of grated lemon zest all over. There is no need to stir at this point. Cover the cooking pan, lower the heat and simmer for an hour to an hour and a half, depending on how large or small your chicken pieces are. Leave them alone, I tell you. Do not be tempted to peek and stir. You want the juices retained in that covered cooking pan.
When the chicken is almost done, stir the stew, cover the pan once more and turn up the heat to medium. Continue cooking for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the sauce is reduced to almost nothing.
This is how the cooked dish looks. The little sauce that remains is thick after the sugar in the mangoes has caramelized. The yogurt has curdled and its flavors have mixed with the juices.
When you don’t stir and stir while cooking, see what happens? The mango cubes retain their shape. They were soft, alright. Very soft. But they did not liquefy and it would have been a pity if they did.
It was a wonderful dinner. The salt and pepper sprinkled on the chicken were just right to season the stew. The sourness of the yogurt was barely discernible after mixing with the sweetness of the mangoes.
This dish has no sharp flavors. I can’t describe it as salty or sweet our sour. It’s just an indescribable medley that smells so good with the cilantro and lemon zest. Definitely worth cooking again. And definitely good enough to cook for a dinner party. We’re having a few of them soon to celebrate the move to the new house. 
Ciao and happy cooking.
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Oh wow, looks heavenly Connie. I can imagine the taste now… Herbs does make the difference kaya I am inspired with the herb garden at home.
Looks yummy! One question: did you have a problem with the curdling? If so, how ever did you deal with it?
js, I just let it. Minimal stirring resulted in little white spots of yogurt on top of the chicken pieces and the rest mixed in with the sauce. There were no solid curds.
This looks great. I’ve made a recipe for pork loin cooked in milk from Molly Steven’s braising cookbook, it was super. I definitely want to try this one!
It’s a dream dish, Lulu. I swear I’m gonna cook it for a lot of dinner parties.
Im envious! I would love to be able to cook this same dish. I am just wary of yogurt and never really tried it so Im scared of using it in dishes too.
I used to loathe yogurt. I couldn’t understand how my daughters could consume tub after tub after tub. And they liked the drink version too. Then, I learned to substitute yogurt for sour cream and a whole new world opened up for me.
I love yogurt so much that Faith hates it when i use up the yogurt i bought for her.
Will be cooking this one soon.
Thanks for the brilliant idea.
Soloops, in our house, I’m lucky if I get to eat a tub of yogurt — Speedy and the kids consume yogurt so fast. LOL
Hi Ms. Connie, ask lang po: would it still work without the cilantro? Hard to acquire po kasi yan dito at hindi ko alam kung ano hitsura nyan o tawag sa kanya dito… Clueless po ako sa pagluluto eh. Baka kung anong damo maihalo ko
Kung wala pong cilantro, ano pong itu-tweak sa recipe?
Thank u!
connie, ang sarap. kakatapos ko lang ng dinner niluto ko tong recipe na’to. wala nga lang cilantro at lemon zest dahil hindi ko alam kung ano yung mga yon. tsaka di ko na pina-golden brown yung chicken pero ang sarap.
thanks for the idea
hi… i’ve been browsing your site for weeks and i’ve tried a couple of your recipes and am very excited to cook this one.
i must also include that your photos are great!!! are you also a photographer miss connie?
No, I’m a lawyer. And a print media writer.
Hello Connie. I tried this recipe last Saturday and it was great! I have to warn everybody though to keep a wary eye when the sauce is about to completely reduce. When it gets to the point where the sauce is nearly reduced, the sauce just goes out completely and all you’re left with is oil. What I did is to just add some more yogurt and take it out from the heat.
pasaway si kotsengkuba hindi sumunod sa recipe, ahahah!
ano po ms. connie iibahin kapag walang cilantro? mapraktis nga ng mailuto sa aking prinsipe
pyjamas, difference in aroma and taste. can’t explain it, it has to be experienced.
Naisip ko pong i-substitute ang peaches, ano pong tingin nyo? Di kze masarap ang indian mangoes d2 sa dubai. may after taste. Lasang gamot.
Joy, basta fresh, I think they’ll work. Actually, there are a lot of other fruits I’d like to try with this recipe — plums, apples, apricots…
I love your step-by-step photos! They really help an unsure cook like myself.
Ms Connie, i would like to try this recipe, it really looks yummy. But we do not have fresh mangoes here in New Zealand, meron canned na. Is it alright to used them? or other fresh fruits instead.
Thanks.
hi maam connie, tried this recipe last saturday, saraaap, kakaiba ang lasa, nadurog lang ang mangga. thanks for sharing your recipe, more power.
Hi Ms. Connie, im planning to cook this for my kid’s christmas party next week but when i went to the grocery wala akong makitang plain yogurt, may halong fruits, yung nestle yogurt na nasa cups. Pwede bang i-substitute ang all purpose cream or milk? thanks…
Cream will make it fatty. Milk is too thin. In terms of taste, sour cream can be substituted. But the cooked dish will be higher in fat.
Oh, ok Ms. Connie, but anyway mga bata naman ang kakain so pwede na siguro. pang one time lang naman hehehe..thanks!!
Hi Connie,I’m reading the archives.Yogurt in
a chicken dish is something new for me.I love
mangoes and it is in abundance here at this time of the year.I’ll definitely give it a try.
The photos were very helpful.
Hi Ms. Connie, got a little misunderstanding with my hubby when I cooked it… it went to the trash. Kelangan talaga, I’m on a light mood on cooking, super true affected cooking ko pag emo mode ako. hehe
I’ll definitely try this one again, as I’m a lover of mango, and this dish is quite interesting for me also because of the yogurt.