Chicken Pasanda

Serves 6

Ingredients

1.5kg chicken (skinned thighs and drumsticks preferably)
4 medium tomatoes
1 large onion
1 inch ginger
8 cloves garlic
4 tsp whole coriander
2 tsp whole cumin
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric powder
4 tbsp whole yoghurt
2 inches stick cinnamon
2 bay leaves
20 almonds, ground to a powder
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Method

Chop the onion, ginger and garlic into little pieces. Bring the oil to heat on high in a large pot. When it’s hot, add the cinnamon, bay leaves, coriander and cumin. As they sizzle up, throw in the onion, ginger, garlic. Fry for about 10 minutes until the masala is golden brown.

Next, add the turmeric powder, chop the tomatoes and add them in stirring furiously. Fry this mixture for about five minutes, adding half a cup of warm water if the masala starts getting stuck to the bottom of the pot. Then spoon in the yogurt, give it a good mix, lower the heat to a medium and wait two minutes or so until little oily holes start appearing on the surface of the masala.

When this happens, the quickest thing to do is it to take a hand blender and go straight into the pot and puree the ingredients into a smooth paste. Don’t worry about the bits of cumin and coriander seeds – you will hardly clock them in the end result.

When you have a creamy orange curry base, add in the chicken pieces, whack the heat up again to high and stir viciously to brown the meat. The curry might splatter a bit, but it will all be worth it in the end. When the chicken pieces are white all over, mix in the ground almond, lower the heat to medium again and cook covered for half an hour, stirring every five minutes or so until the meat separates from the bones on the chicken legs.

Add salt to taste. Serve hot, with toasted pitta breads to scoop up the thick curry. Dal, optional.