Yogurt & Almond Chicken Curry

By Hester

Our ultimate Friday night food - just add naans. Make a double batch of the fragrant curry paste and freeze for next time

Ingredients

• 2 green chillies, roughly chopped
• 100 g ground almonds
• thumb-size piece ginger, grated
• 4 garlic cloves
• 200 ml single cream
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 tsp garam masala
• 12 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 100 g full-fat natural yogurt
• 20 g pack coriander, chopped
• naan bread or basmati rice, to serve

Details

Adapted from bbcgoodfood.com

Preparation

Step 1

1.Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Whizz the chillies, almonds, ginger, garlic, cream and 300ml water to a paste.

2.Heat the oil in a large, deep ovenproof casserole and add the onion, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and 2 tsp garam masala. Fry, stirring for 1 min, then add the paste. Bring to a simmer and season with salt. Add the chicken, turning each thigh to coat it, then bring back to a simmer. Blob the yogurt over the top.

3.Bake in the oven for 40 mins or until the chicken is cooked through (spoon any excess fat from the surface). Sprinkle with the remaining garam masala and the coriander. Serve with naan or rice.



Tip


Spice it up

For a paste-based curry, fry an extra spoonful of paste in a separate pan for 1-2 mins until fragrant, then stir into the finished dish. For a spice-based curry, fry some more spices in a drop of oil before stirring in – although garam masala can be sprinkled straight over the finished curry. A scattering of sliced chilli just before serving adds a lovely kick.


Tip

Cool it down

If you’ve added too much spice to a creamy Indian curry, stir in some natural yogurt (or a good splash of coconut cream to a Thai curry). If you’ve made a hot tomato-based curry, serve with a bowl of cooling raita and lots of plain rice or naan bread. Serve ice-cold milk-based lassis with Indian curries instead of water.


Tip

Spice it up

For a paste-based curry, fry an extra spoonful of paste in a separate pan for 1-2 mins until fragrant, then stir into the finished dish. For a spice-based curry, fry some more spices in a drop of oil before stirring in – although garam masala can be sprinkled straight over the finished curry. A scattering of sliced chilli just before serving adds a lovely kick.