A lovely chicken curry that balances heat beautifully, letting all the flavours and aromas speak. It is, I’m immodest enough to suggest, a corker. You can, of course, poach chicken especially for the recipe, but one of its pleasures is that it gives you another meal from a chicken, without a great deal of effort. You can make the sauce ahead; do it in bulk and freeze some if you fancy. One last note: you can, of course, use all green cardamom pods, but you’ll be surprised at the difference the black cardamoms make.
Ingredients
- 500 g cooked boneless chicken
- 3 mace blades
- 9 green cardamom pods
- 6 black cardamom pods
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 onions, peeled and finely sliced
- 3 bay leaves
- 10 cloves
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- 3 cm piece of ginger, peeled and grated
- 400 g tins of chopped tomatoes
- 50 ml double cream
- A handful of coriander, chopped
- Sea salt
How to Make It
- Cut the cooked chicken into bite-sized chunks and set aside.
- Gently toast the mace, cardamom pods and coriander seeds in a large, dry frying pan over a medium-low heat for about a minute to release their flavours and aromas. Tip them into a mortar and pound lightly with the pestle to break them up a bit.
- Add the oil to the frying pan, increase the heat to medium and cook the onions gently, stirring frequently, until softened but not brown. Add the toasted spices, bay leaves, cloves, chilli powder, turmeric, garlic and ginger and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the tinned tomatoes to the pan with a good pinch of salt, stir well and cook over a medium-low heat for 10 minutes or so. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly for a few minutes, then tip the contents of the pan into a food processor and whiz until smooth.
- Return the sauce to the pan, stir in the cream, then add the chicken and bring to a very gentle simmer. Warm through for about 15 minutes and check the seasoning. Serve, scattered with coriander, with basmati rice and/or naan bread.
