Apricot chicken

I love the idea of apricot chicken and thought it was a healthy meal my 2 year olds would love too. On my search for the perfect recipe, I was surprised to find that a lot of the recipes for apricot chicken weren't as healthy as I thought.  Lots of recipes use french onion soup sachets which are full of salt and apricot nectar which is high in sugar. After playing around with some ideas, I have come up with this recipe which is low in salt and has no added sugar but is still full of flavour. By using pureed Ardomona apricot halves, you cut out all the sugar which is added to apricot nectar and other tinned apricot products. This is great because the last thing my girls need before bed is sugar!

0.5 cup plain flour
1kg (8 pieces) skinless chicken thighs
2 tbs olive oil
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground paprika
410g can of Ardomona pie fruit apricot halves (blended until smooth)
1 cup water
1 tsp reduced salt vegetable stock concentrate

1. Preheat oven to 180C (fanforced).
2. Coat chicken with flour and then cook with 1 tbs oil in a large pan over medium to high heat for 2-3 mins or until brown all over. Set aside in a casserole dish.
3. Reduce heat to medium and cook onion and garlic for 3-4 mins or until tender. Add coriander, cumin, paprika and vegetable stock concentrate and cook for another 1 minute.
4. Stir in pureed apricots and water and bring to boil.
5. Pour sauce over chicken, cover casserole dish and place in 180C oven for 45-60 mins. Serve with rice or cous cous.

Apricot chicken served with brown rice