Kozhi Kari: Kerala-style Chicken and Cardamom Curry

Kerala chicken

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 6 fresh curry leaves, plus extra for garnishing
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste (see below)
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped
• 2 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom – simply remove the husks from 6 whole green cardamom pods and crush the seeds to a powder
• 600g skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2.5cm cubes
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste, mixed with 2–3 tablespoons water
• Salt, to taste
• 50ml coconut milk

Preparation time 10 minutes

Cooking time 35 minutes

Method

• Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Add 6 curry leaves and fry them for 10 seconds until they start to colour and release their fragrance.
• Add the onions and stir-fry until soft – about 5 minutes. Stir in the ginger-garlic paste.
• Add the chillies and the tomatoes and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes, or until mushy and well blended. Sprinkle in the turmeric and ground cardamom.
• Drop in the pieces of chicken and fry over a high heat to seal the meat on all sides. Pour in the tamarind, season with salt and bring to the boil.
• Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer gently for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked. Pour in the coconut milk and heat through. Serve hot, garnished with a few curry leaves.

Ginger-garlic paste

To make ginger-garlic paste, you will need one part fresh root ginger to one and a half parts garlic. Never peel ginger because the medicinal part lies just beneath the skin - simply scrape it gently with a knife. Peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves and combine them with the ginger in a blender. Blitz to make a smooth puree with a few tablespoons of water.

Extracted from: Healthy Indian In Minutes by Monisha Bharadwaj (Kyle Cathie, £14.99) with photography by Georgia Glynn-Smith.