Mughlai Chicken

INGREDIENTS
Serves: 8-10

• 2½ centimetres piece of fresh root ginger (peeled)
• 4 cloves garlic (peeled)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon dried chilli
• 4 tablespoons ground almonds
• 125 millilitres water
• 5 cardamom pods (bruised)
• 1 cinnamon stick (broken in half)
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1½ kilograms boneless, skinless chicken thighs (each cut in 2)
• 2 onions
• 250 millilitres greek yoghurt
• 250 millilitres chicken stock
• 125 millilitres double cream
• 100 grams golden sultanas
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 75 grams flaked almonds (toasted)

METHOD

1. Put the ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander and chilli into a food processor, and blend to a paste. Add the ground almonds and water, then blend again, and set aside. Traditionally, this would be done with a pestle and mortar, and there's nothing to stop you using those, or a little spice grinder.
2. Put the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, bay leaves and cloves into a small bowl. (Obviously, you don't have to do this, but it saves flitting from cupboard to cupboard looking for the right spices while the oil's spluttering away later.)
3. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the chicken pieces - in batches so they fry rather than stew - and cook them just long enough to seal on both sides, then remove to a dish.
4. Tip in the bowlful of spices and turn them in the oil. Peel and finely chop the onions, add to the pan of spices, and cook until softened and lightly browned, but keep the heat gentle and stir frequently, to avoid them catching. Pour in the blended paste, and cook everything until it begins to colour. Add the yogurt, 125ml / half at a time, stirring it in to make a sauce; then stir in the stock, cream and sultanas.
5. Put the browned chicken back into the pan, along with any juices that have collected under them, and sprinkle over the garam masala, sugar and salt. Cover and cook on a gentle heat for 20 minutes, testing to make sure the chicken meat is cooked through.
6. It's at this stage, that I like to take the pan off the heat and leave it to cool before reheating the next day. So, either now, or when you've reheated it, pour into a serving dish and scatter with the toasted flaked almonds.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For gluten free: most garam masalas are gluten free but please check packaging.

Many recipes I came across indicated evaporated milk rather than cream, which makes sense if you're cooking in a hot climate. You could keep this in mind should you open a tub of cream and find it spoiled, but in that case don't bother with the spoonful of sugar.

I love the paleness of golden sultanas, their mellowness and how they merge into the curry later, but the usual brown ones are just fine.

To toast nuts, simply shake them about in a hot dry pan until scorched in parts.

not mine.credit and source: NIGELLA