I had chicken breasts in my fridge, a kitchen cabinet filled to the brim with fragrant spices, a crunchy ciabatta, and some Greek yoghurt.

Plus—and this is the important part—my beloved sweet mango chutney. I can’t live without that stuff. That was really all it took to create this explosion of tantalizing flavors.

My new favorite sandwich is born!

Ingredients:

1 large ciabatta
2 chicken breasts
1 large onion
1/4 cup raisins
1 tbsp orange juice
lettuce

 
Marinade:

2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sweet paprika powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
3 to 4 tbsp oil

 
Sauce:

6 tbsp greek yoghurt (low-fat)
3 tbsp sweet mango chutney

Directions:

Combine all spices listed under seasoning. Easy blogging!

Add the oil and stir well. This is a serious marinade, that’s for sure, but the greek yoghurt sauce balances it nicely.

 
Technically this is enough for 2 chicken breasts (4 halves), but I applied all the marinade on only two halves. I just laid it on thick. What can I say? I like the flavor explosion.
 

Brush the marinade all over the chicken (both sides) and let it marinate for a few minutes while you move on.

Turn the onion into thick slices. I bought little gems. They look pretty on bread but have virtually no nutritional value. Give them a quick wash.

 
Preheat your oven to 400F˚ (200C˚). We’ll be finishing the chicken in the oven.
 

Heat a non-stick skillet and give the chicken breasts 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Careful not to burn the seasoning.

Until the scent that comes from it is enough to make everyone passing by your house stop dead in their tracks.

Transfer them to an oven dish and give them 10 to 15 minutes in the oven to cook through.

Add a tiny drop of oil to the skillet, lower the heat and bake the onions for 10 minutes. They’ll pick up the leftover spices, it’s delicious.

 
The flavors of the marinade are almost Moroccan-like. I figured I wanted to add some sweetness to the sandwich to balance flavors.
 

Add the OJ to the raisins, cover with microwave-safe plastic wrap and nuke them for a minute at full power.

 
The raisins will soak up all the juice and turn really soft and flavorful. Let them cool off for a while.
 

I opted for ciabatta but use any kind of bread you like, really.

 
When you’re using a very powerful marinade like this one, you need something to tone it down, freshen it up and lessen the intensity. I opted for a yoghurt based sauce that I sweetened up with sweet mango chutney.
 

Mix the yoghurt and sweet mango chutney. Feel free to season it a little. I didn’t.

Slice the chicken breasts as soon as they’re done. Seriously, look! This is 100% pure flavor.

Spread a thin layer of sauce on both side of the bread and top it with the lettuce.

The sliced chicken goes on top.

Followed by the onion rings, raisins and perhaps a little extra sauce? Oh c’mon, you know you want to!

This sandwich is a great way to fight off the winter blues!

And man, it’s cold here. Tell me it’s 22C where you are and I’ll cry.