Ingredients
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1 onion, medium, finely chopped
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4 tablespoons oil
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2 teaspoons hot pepper flakes (you can use fresh hot peppers to taste)
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2 teaspoons fennel, ground (or 4 teaspoons whole fennel seeds)
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1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
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2 tablespoons ginger, fresh, finely chopped
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1 teaspoon turmeric
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1/2-1 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground
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15 cardamom pods (whole pods)
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1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
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1 tablespoon garam masala (available from Indian shops, choose mild)
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1 (14 ounce) can chopped tomatoes (400g)
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1 1/2 lbs chicken pieces (best to cut up a medium chicken)
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2 teaspoons garlic, finely chopped
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2 teaspoons brown sugar (I like sticky muscovado)
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1 tablespoon lemon juice
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2 -3 teaspoons salt (or more, depending on type of salt)
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1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds
Instructions
- Gather your spices together, and peel and chop the ginger. Put the 10 spices -- from the coriander seeds down to the garam masala -- in a mortar and pestle or even in a coffee bean grinder. Mash them together so the cardamom pods burst and the whole thing becomes a mess of spices.
- Then heat the oil in a pot, add the onion over fairly high heat, and stir now and then, for a few minutes. Add the spices you mashed or grinded, and stir. You might need to add more oil: spices slurp up oil as they fry. Don't worry, you will be able to skim it off again later.
- Stir and fry spices and onion for about 2 minutes. Add the can of chopped tomatoes and stir. The heat should be high enough so everything bubbles together.
- Add the chicken pieces, and stir to coat well, keeping heat high until everything is bubbling away.
- Turn heat way down until it just simmers, put on a lid, and cook for about 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle over the garlic, sugar, lemon juice and salt.
- Simmer with lid at a small angle, for about 15 minutes more.
- Stir through, taste the sauce, and adjust seasoning to taste.
- Please note that it is easy, near the end of cooking, to skim off extra oil/fat with a spoon, as it collects in corners of the pot. On my photos you can see there isn't much oil or fat on the dish.
- Serve this with rice. Tonight I served this with green vegetables and what you might call "grits and beans".