My colleague Sarah is married to a Cuban man and has become a pro at Cuban cooking. I am always eyeing up her food and sometimes even get a donation towards my lunch club with Claire.

This chicken dish is my take on Sarah’s fried chicken except I cook it in the oven.

What you will need:

4 – 5 chicken thighs
2 tablespoons of cumin powder
1 tablespoon of paprika Chilli flakes (to taste)
1 lime’s juice
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Cooking time:
45 minutes

In a sandwich bag (or bowl) add your chicken, thinly sliced onions and the ingredients (except the oil). This is a bit messy but get your hand in the bag and make sure all the ingredients are mixed together. Close up your sandwich bag (better to place the bag in a bowl) and leave it in the fridge for 20mins – though the longer the better. Preheat your oven to 200C.

Empty all the contents of the bag in an oven dish and pour a little oil over the chicken making sure the onions are covered in oil (you really don’t need to use much). Put the chicken in the oven and after 15mins check that the onions aren’t burning. If they are starting to, stir them a little and leave to cook for a further 15mins.

I had a big salad with the chicken, but there was some left so I brought it to work for my lunch club. Claire had some left-over pasta and they went perfectly together.

For Sarah’s chicken, she lets it marinate for 24 hours (I think) and fries the thighs in oil. Either way is yummy.

Mel