Awesome Chicken Curry

I have cooked a lot of chicken curries in my time and I’m always tweaking the ingredients and cooking method. This however seems to be the recipe that I continue to return to. I’m not going to lie, its not quick. The key is in cooking the onion mixture slow and low, then adding the other ingredients and cooking them out. This achieves the classic ‘layering’ of flavours that chefs speak of when describing a lot of Indian cuisine. Of course in India there is no such thing as ‘curry’ but I’m going to cheat and call this an awesome chicken curry! Another tip – keep all the ingredients to hand and prepped before you start. Also get a good quality garam masala – if I cant get my mum’s homemade masala I really like the M&S garam masala. This recipe serves 2 and will take you 90 mins to cook

What You Need

Ingredients
500g or 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into 4 pieces per thigh)
5 cloves garlic (peeled)
2 onions (peeled and quartered)
2 inch piece of ginger (peeled)
2 green chillies (adjust to taste)

1/2 a 450g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 cup of water
2 tablespoons of veg oil

5 fresh curry leaves
2 tablespoons of dried methi (optional but adds a very authentic flavour)

Dry spices –  1/2 tsp ground turmeric, 1/2 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp garam masala, 4 cardamon pods, 3 inch stick cinnamon/cassia bark, 4 black peppercorns, 1tsp whole cumin

How To Make It

1. Put onions, chilli, garlic and ginger in a food processor and blitz to a paste
2. Heat oil in a large lidded wok/saucepan
3. When hot add cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, peppercorns. Wait about 1 minute and add the whole cumin. When cumin has ‘popped’ and is slightly brown (about 30 secs) add curry leaves. Fry for about 30 secs
4. Add the onion paste, add salt and fry on a medium heat, stirring until the mixture has lost all its water and the oil starts to separate. This process takes at least 30 mins but is VERY important. Add a bit of water is the mixture starts to stick. Do not allow the mixture to burn or stick to the base of the pan.
5. Add the turmeric, chilli powder, ground cumin, ground coriander & garam masala. Fry, stirring for 10 minutes
6. Add the chicken. Turn up the heat & stir fry until the chicken is white/brown & the oil starts to separate (about 15 mins)
7. Add methi & tomatoes, stir
8. Add the water, mix & cover. Reduce to a simmer. Cook for 30 mins
10. If the sauce is too thick enough simply add a bit more water
11. Season with salt to taste
12. Garnish with chopped coriander
13. Serve and enjoy with steamed basmati rice and lots of hot naan. Yum!