Coronation Chicken Sandwich

Ingredients

• 400 g cooked chicken, shredded
• 120 g mayonnaise
• 60 g natural yoghurt
• 1 tbsp mild curry powder
• 3 tbsp mango chutney
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 60 g dried apricots, chopped
• 30 g flaked almonds, toasted
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 8 slices of soft white bread
• a few crisp lettuce leaves

Method

1. Cook the curry powder

   Fry the curry powder in the oil for a minute until it smells toasted, then let it cool. Stirred in raw it tastes dusty and sits on the tongue — this one step is what separates a good coronation chicken from a beige one.

   1 min

2. Mix the sauce

   Stir the cooled spice paste into the mayonnaise, yoghurt, chutney and lemon juice. Taste it now, before the chicken goes in and dilutes everything.

3. Fold in

   Fold through the shredded chicken, apricots and almonds. Shredded rather than diced — the ragged edges hold far more sauce.

4. Build

   Season, pile onto the bread with lettuce, and press gently. Made a few hours ahead the filling is better, but assemble at the last minute or the bread goes damp.