Mixing in a little India with Patak’s Mango Chicken

Yesterday was not only St. Patrick’s Day but it was also the celebration of Holi. Holi marks the start of spring and is a festival of colours and neighbourly love. Back in my younger days I’ve participated in many an organized ‘colour fight’. During Holi neighbourhoods gather together and both young and old chase each other with powdered paint and water. Celebrated on the full moon this ancient Hindu festival signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring and a chance to gather with old friends and new.

When Pataks challenged us to learn something new as part of mixing in a little India into our lives I thought long and hard about doing something around Holi. However given that we just got new floors I wasn’t ready to start a colour fight with the Little Monkey. Instead I practiced the art of Henna.  I’ve had it done on numerous occasions …. weddings (my own included) to just random weekends when friends have gathered. Cones can be purchased for a couple dollars in Little India’s Gerrard Bazaar but henna is semi-permanent and there’s no way the toddler would have patiently waited for the artwork to dry. Henna on my couch? NO THANKS! I’ve always wanted to master the art of henna but honestly I suck at it. It’s the sad truth. I practiced quite a few designs on wax paper and it looked like toddler art! Instead of showing you my messy designs I’m going to share some of my favourite henna designs from over the years…

Disclosure: I am part of the Patak’s Canada Ambassador program with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog as always are totally mine!

Holi was about bright colours and I took that theme into our dinner… we mixed up the Patak’s Mango Chicken two ways! We had the curry for dinner and the next day had visitors for lunch… guess what I whipped up! Mango Chicken Sandwiches!

The curry was easy. Toss chunks of cubed chicken breast into a pan and saute with onions and garlic. Then lovingly pour in the jar of Pataks Mango Chicken and let the dish simmer until the chicken is well cooked ( I also add chilli powder to spice it up). Serve with rice and Patak’s Pappadum. Sprinkle some corn and decorate with Cilantro if you’re feeling fancy! It was simple and honestly after a frustrating day of trying to perfect my henna skills, I was thankful for the easy delicious meal. The Little Monkey loved it but the hubs wasn’t a fan unfortunately.

The next day I picked out the pieces of chicken and ensured that there was plenty of curry on the chicken pieces but not too much. You don’t want the bread to get too soggy. Dice in some tomatoes and toss in a few cilantro leaves. Mix it all up with a teaspoon of mayo and you have your Mango Chicken Sandwich mix! That was easy wasn’t it? I loved the bright colours of the sandwich and it definitely was inspired by the bright Holi colours.

Have you heard or celebrated Holi?