8 chicken thighs – skinned, deboned and cut into bite size pieces
Spices
4 inches of fresh ginger root – peeled and finely chopped, then crushed to a paste
4 cloves of garlic – peeled and crushed to paste with a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp of cinnamon – fresh ground
1/2 tsp peppercorns – fresh ground
1/2 tsp cardamom – fresh ground from shelled seeds (you buy them in little green pods – and you shell them by hand, its a little laborious but the flavour is far superior to pre ground).
1/2 tsp mustard seeds – whole
1 tsp coriander seeds fresh ground
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp of cumin – fresh ground – not too fine
6 cloves – fresh ground
1/4 tsp mace, (if you can’t find the mace, just double the nutmeg)
1/2 tsp nutmeg – freshly grated
1/2 tsp fenugreek
1/2 tsp of paprika (I like to use smoked paprika here but either will do).
2 tsp of salt
A pinch of chilli powder (optional).
and separately a table spoon of garam masala for serving. (cinnamon, peppercorns, cardamom, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, cloves, mace, and nutmeg)
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1 cup of Coconut yogurt – (the thick greek style yogurt is perfect)
4 table spoons of coconut oil
3/4 packed cup of finely chopped cilantro leaves
2 – 4 canned peeled tomatoes
2 cups tomato sauce / puree
1 large fresh tomato
1 small can of tomato concentrate (about half a cup).
2 medium red onions
1 cup of coconut cream
1 tablespoon of coconut butter – grated (not essential but nice if you can find it).
2 tsp of lime juice (or lemon if lime is unavailable)
2 tablespoons of raw or brown sugar
1 tsp of almond flour
Steps:
In a large bowl mix a marinade with:
1/2 cup of the yogurt
HALF of the ginger, garlic, cumin, turmeric, chilli, cinnamon, peppercorns, nutmeg, mace, coriander, cardamom, mustard and salt
Lime juice
Add the chicken pieces, mix thoroughly, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Pre fry the marinated chicken
Taking the marinated chicken from the fridge
Prepare a large frying pan or wok by melting the remaining coconut oil (4 – 5 tablespoons) on a medium high heat
Picking the chicken pieces from the marinate sauce, carefully drop them into the hot oil
Sprinkle the remaining rough ground cumin over the chicken and brown the pieces of mean on all sides
Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and set aside
Pour off any visible coconut oil remaining in the pan (and reserve it)
Prepare the cooking sauce:
In the same pan in which you fried the chicken. Return about 1 tbsp of the reserved oil to the pan.
Sautee onions until slightly translucent, scraping the bottom to incorporate the flavours from the bottom of the pan. This should take about 3 – 5 minutes. You might need to add a few table spoons of water to deglaze the bottom of the pan, which will slow down the cooking time of the onions, but that’s ok.
Add the mashed garlic and other spices – cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, coriander, fenugreek, turmeric and clove
Toast lightly for 1 – 2 minutes, mixing constantly.
To the sauteed onion / spice mixture add the tomato sauce, chopped or liquidized canned tomatoes, tomato concentrate and chopped fresh tomato with the other half of the mashed ginger and the paprika.
Cook on medium low heat
Stirring frequently cook for 10 – 20 minutes – until the red sauce darkens. (the longer you cook it at this stage the rounder the flavors will be – but 10 minutes is an absolute minimum.
And then put it all together
Add back the chicken (that was browned and set aside)
Stir, cover and cook for 10 minutes
Add the coconut yogurt and sugar – stir
Add the flour, coconut cream and grated coconut butter and stir
Add the fresh chopped cilantro (coriander leaf) and remove from the heat.
You are ready to serve.
Serve with a drizzle of coconut cream, a pinch of garam massala and a sprig of cilantro.
NOTE:
A non traditional variation that I like very much, adds chick peas and veggies:
Add 3 sliced zuchini, 3 sliced carrots and 4 cubbed medium potatoes to the tomato sauce before cooking it down, and add 1 cup of chick peas to the chicken just before adding it to the sauce at the end.
