Anjum Anand's easy-to-make curry uses lots of tomatoes and whole spices for its simple, rustic and well-rounded flavours
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cloves
- 6 green cardamom pods
- 2 black cardamom pods
- 1 small-medium onion, peeled and sliced
- 15g fresh ginger, peeled
- 5 cloves of garlic, peeled
- Salt, to taste
- ¾ tsp red chilli powder (or paprika or Kashmiri chilli powder, for colour)
- 1 rounded tsp ground cumin
- 1 rounded tsp ground coriander
- 3 medium-large tomatoes, puréed
- 650g chicken joints or 4 large quarters, skinned
WEIGHT CONVERTER
Method
- To make this chicken curry, heat the oil in a large non-stick saucepan and add the whole spices; let them splutter for 15 seconds. Add the onion and cook until golden.
- Meanwhile, using a blender, make a fine paste of the ginger and garlic with a little water. Add to the pan and cook until the excess liquid has dried up and the paste has fried for 30 seconds.
- Add the salt, powdered spices and tomatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until oil is released from the masala, around 10-15 minutes. Add 200ml water and bring to the boil, then taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Add the chicken pieces and cook, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, around 25 minutes. Take off the lid and add a splash of water from a recently boiled kettle if the gravy has reduced too much or, if necessary, burn off excess liquid over a high heat.
- Serve with rice.
Top Tip for making Anjum's Kashmiri chicken
In Kashmir, cooks traditionally use large pieces of chicken, and this dish would normally be made with a small quartered chicken - but you can use any joints you like for this dish. It is usually served with plain boiled rice.
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