1/2 cup yoghurt or leben
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3cm piece ginger, peeled, finely grated
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala, or one tablespoon if you like a lot
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder, or to taste
600g chicken thigh fillets, trimmed, cut into 3cm pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (Rice bran oil is excellent.)
20g butter
1 brown onion, halved, thickly sliced
410g can tomato puree
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup thickened cream
Basmati rice cooked to dry and fluffy & coriander leaves to serve
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1. Place yoghurt, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, garam masala and chilli powder in a glass or ceramic dish. Add chicken. Stir to coat. Cover. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
2. Heat oil and butter in a heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion. Sauté, stirring occasionally until golden and caramelised. Add chicken mixture to pan. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until chicken just starts to change colour. Add tomato puree and stock. Cover. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until chicken is tender and mixture has thickened slightly.
3. Stir in cream. Simmer for a further 5 minutes or until heated through. Serve with steamed rice and coriander leaves.
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Tip - spices freshly hand-ground in mortar and pestle and lightly pre-toasted (heated through till the aroma is perfect) work best.
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Being vegetarian, I use tofu in place of the chicken,
and vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock.
I like to add vegetables in the last two minutes, eg snow peas, and finely sliced carrot and celery.
I also prefer brown rice for flavour, nutrition and gut fibre.
My technique for making brown rice fluffy is to dry roast and stir it in the pot until the grain begin to pop like pop corn, then add boiling hot water (slowly or it will spit) until it covers the grain by one inch, add a pinch of salt, cover with a lid leaving a small gap, turn down to rolling simmer and wait till all water has evaporated - about 30 - 35 mins.
righty1 