Thai Basil Chicken Spirals with Winged Coconut Rice & Peanut-Lime Naan

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

Ingredients

• 1 cupJasmine rice
• 1 cupCanned coconut milk
• 1/2 cupWater
• 3/4 teaspoon, dividedSalt
• 1 tablespoonVegetable oil
• 12 ouncesGround chicken
• 3 clovesGarlic, minced
• 2 teaspoonsFresh ginger, grated
• 1 1/2 tablespoonsThai red curry paste
• 1 tablespoonSoy sauce
• 2 teaspoonsBrown sugar
• 1/2 cupFresh basil, chopped
• 2 sheetsFrozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1Egg, beaten
• 2Mini naan breads
• 3 tablespoonsCreamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoonsLime juice
• 1 tablespoonHoney
• 1 to 2 tablespoonsWarm water
• 1 largeRed bell pepper
• 1/2 mediumCucumber
• 1 teaspoonBlack sesame seeds
• 4Lime wedges

MAKE IT

Method

1. 01

   Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. This is now the runway. Unauthorized snacks will be towed.

2. 02

   Combine the rice, coconut milk, water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff it with a fork as though interrogating a very soft cloud.

3. 03

   Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground chicken and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, breaking it into small pieces, until no pink remains. Add the garlic, ginger, curry paste, soy sauce, brown sugar, and remaining salt. Cook for 2 minutes, then stir in the basil. Let the filling cool for 10 minutes so it does not melt the pastry into administrative paperwork.

4. 04

   Unfold the pastry sheets. Divide the chicken filling between them and spread it evenly, leaving a 1-inch border along one edge. Roll each sheet tightly into a log, seal the bare edge with beaten egg, and cut each log into six wheels. Place them cut-side up on the prepared sheet and brush with more beaten egg.

5. 05

   Bake the spicy wheels for 18 to 22 minutes, until deeply golden and crisp. They should resemble the tires of a tiny limousine owned by a chili pepper.

6. 06

   Cut each naan into two exaggerated shoe shapes using kitchen scissors or a knife. Place them on the baking sheet during the final 7 minutes of the pinwheels’ baking time, toasting until crisp at the edges. Use only naan; actual footwear has poor seasoning and worse manners.

7. 07

   Whisk together the peanut butter, lime juice, honey, and enough warm water to make a drizzleable sauce. Apply it to the naan shoes with the solemn precision of a cobbler receiving a Michelin star.

8. 08

   Slice four broad wing shapes and four narrow trunk shapes from the bell pepper. Cut small cucumber semicircles for ears. Firmly pack warm coconut rice into four small bowls, invert each onto a plate, and attach the pepper trunks, cucumber ears, and pepper wings. Add black sesame eyes. The flying elephants are now cleared for takeoff despite several objections from physics.

9. 09

   Arrange three spicy chicken wheels around each rice elephant. Add one peanut-lime naan shoe per plate, drizzle over any remaining sauce, and serve with lime wedges. Announce dinner by shouting, “THE LANDING GEAR IS AL DENTE!” even though nothing here is pasta.