This dish was a delicious surprise. The combination of ingredients makes for a simply outstanding curry! I was skeptical before I cooked it, but now I strongly recommend it.
This recipe closely based on a recipe by best-selling author Meera Sodha. She is crazily innovative!
What you’ll need
- 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- 100g (3.5 oz) shelled, unsalted pistachios, plus extra to serve
- 3T neutral oil
- 2 large white or yellow onions, thinly sliced into rings
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 0.25t ground black pepper
- 1t garam masala
- 0.5t chili powder
- 1T coriander seeds, crushed
- 0.5t ground cardamom
- 3-inch piece of cinnamon stick, or 2t ground cinnamon
- 1t salt
- 800g (1.75 lbs) skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1.5-inch cubes
- 4T Greek yoghurt, plus extra to serve
- 250ml (about a cup) hot chicken stock
- Juice from half a lemon
What to do
Grind the pistachios in a spice grinder until they’re a fine powder. Set aside.
Smash and grind the ginger and garlic into a coarse paste with a mortar and pestle. A food processor works in a pinch, too. Set aside.
Put the oil in a large frypan over medium heat. When the oil’s hot, add the onions and cook them—stirring often—until they’re slightly caramelized—about 20 minutes. Add a bit of water if they get too dry during the cooking process. Add the garlic and ginger paste and stir-fry for a few minutes before adding the tomatoes. Be careful that the garlic doesn’t scorch before you add the tomatoes.
Put a lid on the pan and cook the tomatoes for about 6 minutes or until they start to break down. Stir in the black pepper, garam masala, chili powder, coriander, cardamom and salt. Mix in the chicken pieces.
Mix in the pistachio powder and allow it to cook for a minute before adding the chicken stock. Whisk the yogurt before stirring it into the pan.
Let the chicken cook uncovered for about 15 minutes at a medium simmer. If the pan gets too dry, add a bit of water—doubtful you’ll have to, though. The dish is done when the sauce is the consistency of a thick cream.
Serve hot with a dollop of yogurt, some chopped pistachios and a squirt of lemon.
This curry goes really well with an Indian naan flatbread or basmati rice.
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