8– 10 chicken thighsbone in, skin on (aprox 1.1 – 1.5 kg)
Salt & pepper for seasoning
1Tbspbutter
2Carrots thickly sliced
2celery stalksfinely diced
1large onion finely diced
2bay leaves
4clovesgarliccrushed
¼cupflour
1.5litres good quality chicken stockuse boiling water
1medium orange sweet potato cut into large chunksaprox 250gms
Chopped fresh parsley to serve
For the dumplings
2cups/ 250gms flour
1Tbspbaking powder
2Tbspchopped chives or parsley
200mlwarm milk
1tspsalt
30gms buttermelted
1Tbsolive oil
Instructions
Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode and while it warms up, season the chicken pieces well with salt & pepper.
When the Instant Pot screen says HOT, melt the butter in the pot and brown the chicken starting skin side down. Cook on both sides until golden brown. This will take approximately 5 minutes a side and you will need to do 2 batches. Set the chicken aside.
With the Instant Pot still on Sauté and using the residual fat in the pot, add the carrot, celery, onion, bay leaves and garlic and fry – stirring frequently for about 10 minutes until softened.
Add the ¼ cup flour and stir briefly until it starts to brown on the bottom of the pot. Add the stock and stir well to scrape off any bits stuck at the bottom or on the sides.
Return the chicken pieces back into the broth and close the lid. Move the vent up to Sealing Position and set to Pressure Cook on High for 10 minutes.
While the chicken is cooking, make the dumpling mixture.
In a large bowl sift the flour and baking powder and mix in the chopped chives/parsley. In a jug, mix the warmed milk, with the salt, melted butter and olive oil. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and briefly mix until combined and a thick dough has formed. Do not over mix this.
After the chicken has completed cooking, manually release the pressure and open the lid. Remove the chicken pieces and set aside to cool.
Add the sweet potatoes to the sauce. Using 2 teaspoons, scoop up the dumpling dough to make a ball shape and drop these around the surface of the sauce in an even layer. Close the lid of the Instant Pot, move vent up and Pressure Cook on High for 3 minutes. Allow a Natural Release of pressure for 15 minutes then do a manual release of any remaining pressure.
While the dumplings are cooking, remove the skin from the chicken and shred the meat off the bones. Set this shredded meat aside and add it back to the dumpling mixture once it has finished cooking. Allow a few minutes for this to warm through and then serve in a bowl and garnish with parsley.
Notes
Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge and reheated in a microwave.