Chicken Curry TL Style

Ingredients

• 2 large onion grated or finely chopped
• 6 garlic clove, roughly chopped
• 75g ginger grated finely
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil ideally peanut oil
• 3 tsp cumin seed
• 1 tsp fennel seed
• 5cm cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp freshly chopped chili or more to taste
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp caster sugar or honey
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 8 chicken thigh, skinned, boneless (about 800g)
• 250ml hot chicken stock
• 40 grams chopped coriander

Optional

• 1 Can of coconut milk 400 ml

Preparation

1Roughly chop the onion, transfer to a small food processor, and add 3-4 tablespoons of water - process to a paste. You could use a stick blender for this or coarsely grate the onion into a bowl

2Put the chopped garlic and ginger into the same food processor and add 4 tbsp water – process until smooth and spoon into another small bowl. Alternatively, crush the garlic to a paste with a knife or garlic press and finely grate the ginger

3Heat the oil in a wok or sturdy pan set over a medium heat. Combine the cumin and fennel seeds with the cinnamon and chilli flakes and add to the pan in one go. Swirl everything around for about 30 secs until the spices release a fragrant aroma

4Add the onions. Fry until the water evaporates and the onions turn a lovely dark golden. This should take about 5-7 mins. Add the garlic and ginger paste and cook for another 5 mins – stirring all the time

5Stir in the garam masala, turmeric, and sugar or honey and continue cooking for 40 secs before tipping in the tomatoes. Continue cooking on a medium heat for about 15 mins without a lid until the tomatoes reduce and darken

6Cut the chicken thighs into 3cm chunks after deboning then and add to the pan once the tomatoes have thickened to a paste. Cook for 5 mins to coat the chicken in the masala and seal in the juices, and then pour over the hot chicken stock. Simmer for 10-25 mins without a lid until the chicken is tender and the masala lightly thickened – you might need to add an extra ladleful of stock or water if the curry needs it. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve with basmati rice (add some cinnamon, cardamom and star anice to the rice before cooking and serve with some  mint yogurt on the side. Add some finely chopped mint to the yoghurt