Desi Murgh's curry

Ingredients vegetable oil 2 large onions, finely sliced 2 tspn garlic paste 2 tspn ginger paste 4 ripe tomatoes, cored, peeled & finely chopped 50 gm Greek yoghurt 3 large black cardamom seeds 2 tspn ground coriander 1 tspn cumin seeds  6 whole cloves 1½ tspn red chilli powder 1 tspn ground turmeric 2 bay leaves a good pinch of salt 500 ml chicken stock (or water) 8 skinless chicken thighs, bone in 5-6 tbsp chopped fresh coriander steamed rice mango chutney

METHOD

Gently cook the onions in 4 tbsp hot oil in a pan until golden and caramelised. Then set aside to cool, before processing. 

Heat a little oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan and gently sauté the garlic and ginger pastes for a few minutes, continually stirring. 

Add the tomatoes and stir until well combined. 

Then add the yoghurt with the caramelised onion. Stir well and gently cook for 5-6 mins. 

Add the spices, bay leaves and salt. Stir and cook until the oil separates. 

Then mix in the stock and add the chicken in one layer, if possible. Bring to the boil and turn the heat down. Cover and gently simmer for about 40 mins, turning once or twice, adding more stock if needed. 

Remove the chicken and add half the coriander to the pan. Turn the heat up, stir well and briefly cook. 

Serve the chicken on a mound of steamed rice with plenty of sauce spooned over and

a sprinkling of coriander and a spoon of chutney on the side. 

from Mahmood Akbar in “Curry – Fragrant dishes from India, Thailand, Malaysia & Indonesia” by David Thompson