Mum's Curry Chicken (Meera Sodha)

This is Meera Sodha's ultimate comfort food, her Mum's Curry Chicken. When she left home to go to university, she constantly dream of her mum's curry chicken. Since her mum has taught her how to make it, it has become her favourite dish to share with friends. And I am glad that she has shared it in her lovely cookbook, Made In India.

From the list of ingredients, and the amount used, I can see that there would not be much sauce, and since we love sauce, especially any curry sauce, I have doubled the amount of the spice ingredients for the sauce, with the exception of the yoghurt (to taste) and the ground almonds (to taste). 

We had it for dinner with some basmathi rice cooked with some fresh curry leaves, and a side dish of Simply Spiced Spring Cabbage, from my previous post. A delicious curry dish, one that I would cook again.

The full recipe can also be found at Meera Sodha's website.

Mum's Chicken Curry
(Made In India, by Meera Sodha)
serves 4
2 tablspoons ghee or unsalted butter
1 tablespoon rapeseed oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2x4cm cinnamon sticks
2 large onions, finely chopped
6cm ginger, peeled and grated
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 fresh green chillies (or 1 teaspoon chilli powder)
salt
200gm tomato passata
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 tablespoons whole-milk yoghurt (plus extra to serve)
1.2kg skinless chicken legs, or 800gm skinless, boneless chicken thighs
3 tablespoons ground almonds
1 teaspoon garam masala

Put the ghee and oil into a wide-bottomed, lidded frying pan on a medium heat and, when it's hot, add the cumin seeds and cinnamon sticks. Let them infuse in the oil for a minute, and then add the onions. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.

Meanwhile, put the ginger, garlic and green chillies into a pestle and mortar with a pinch of salt and bash to a coarse paste.

Add the paste to the pan and cook gently for 2 minutes, then pour in the passata and stir. Cook the passata for a few minutes until it resembles a thick paste, then add the tomato puree, ground cumin, turmeric and 1/2 teaspoon of salt (or to taste).

Whisk the yoghurt and add it slowly to the curry. Cook it through until it starts to bubble, then add the chicken. Pop the lid on the pan and continue to cook on a gentle heat for around 30 minutes. Add the ground almonds and the garam masala and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve with a tower of chappatis, hot fluffy naan bread or rice, and offer yoghurt at the table.

kitchen flavour notes :
I have doubled the amount of spices and other ingredients for the sauce with the exception of the yoghurt (to taste) and ground almonds (to taste). The recipe above is the actual recipe from Meera Sodha's website and from her book, adjust accordingly if more sauce is desired.

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #32 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray
Theme for August 2018 : Cooking With Spice!