A slew of hot and sticky summer days, as well as nights, elicited the subject of this post: a coronation chicken salad. On one of those sultry evenings, our neighbors surprised us with a huge rotisserie chicken: “It’s too hot to cook” they said, “take the night off.” The bird was so big that its legs and wings were enough to sate our appetites, leaving us with more than enough meat for another meal. The following day was another scorcher, which made that leftover chicken sitting in the fridge even more appealing.

Lethargic from the heat, I wanted something cold and easy to prepare: chicken salad immediately came to mind. When I proposed it to my husband, he suggested the version that we made in May for the coronation of King Charles. Since we had all of the ingredients on hand, as well as scallions, the suggested substitute for cilantro, I thought it was a great idea.

I used the same recipe that I followed last spring, Melissa Clark’s “Coronation Chicken Salad” from the New York Times “Cooking” website. Having the left-over chicken allowed me to skip the recipe’s first step, which left the simple tasks of making the dressing, folding in the chicken, almonds, and scallions, and finally adjusting for salt and pepper. The only other required prep included shredding the chicken, toasting some almonds, and chopping the scallions.

Aside from using a store-bought rotisserie chicken, I pretty much followed the recipe as written, but adjusted the amounts of curry powder and raisins to our tastes. It yielded a creamy and moist chicken salad. (“Fit for a king,” quipped my better half.) It was riddled with rich curry flavors, balanced by sweet notes from the mango chutney and the raisins, along with toasty hints and crunch from the almonds.

We served the salad as sandwiches, although it would be equally enjoyable atop a bed of mixed greens.

Coronation Chicken Salad (adapted from Melissa Clark’s recipe on the New York Times “Cooking” site.)

Ingredients:

½ cup mayonnaise, plus more as needed
½ cup sour cream
3 tablespoons mango chutney, (any large mango pieces chopped smaller), plus more to taste
1 tablespoon Madras curry powder, plus more to taste
⅓ cup diced golden raisins
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
5 cups, shredded rotisserie chicken, preferably breast meat
½ cup sliced almonds, toasted (I used slivered.)
¼ cup chopped scallions
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, chutney, curry powder, raisins, and lemon juice, mixing well.

2. Fold in the chicken, almonds and scallions, and a little more mayonnaise if the mixture seems dry. (I started with just the chicken and after it was coated with the dressing, I added and folded in the almonds and the scallions. I also began the folding with a spatula, but then used my hands to coat every with the dressing more evenly.)

3. Taste and add more curry powder. Add more chutney, lemon or lime juice, salt and pepper as needed. Make these additions gradually tasting as you go

4. For the best flavor, let the mixture rest for at least 30 minutes before serving. It will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Wine Pairing: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay