Coronation Chicken

Adapted from Great British Cooking: A Well-Kept Secret by Jane Garmey (Random House, 1981)

Serves 4 to 6

Coronation Chicken was created for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953. It is really a curried chicken salad with a very British combination of mayonnaise, cream, chutney, and curry powder. According to Jane Garmey, during the famously long ceremony at Westminster Abbey, the Queen and her ladies-in-waiting were said to have slipped away briefly for a quick helping.

1 cooked chicken (about 3 pounds cooked chicken), chilled
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
½ cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons ketchup
Juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons mango chutney
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup heavy cream, whipped

Shred the chicken into bite-sized (but not tiny) pieces and set aside.

Cook the onion in the oil in a saucepan over low heat until soft and translucent but not brown. Add the curry powder and cook for a few minutes. Add the stock, ketchup, lemon juice, and chutney. Stir until the mixture comes to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.

Let the mixture cool slightly, then purée it in a blender or food processor. Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely. Fold in the mayonnaise and whipped cream. Chill the sauce.

Arrange the chicken on a serving dish and spoon the sauce over it.

NOTE: The original recipe calls for tomato purée, an older canned tomato product that is now harder to find in American supermarkets. I use ketchup here, which gives the same gentle sweetness and soft tomato note the recipe seems to want.