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
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.
