Creamy coconut and cardamom chicken curry
This chicken curry is rich, creamy and beautifully fragrant, but is better for standing for 30 minutes after the initial cooking so the flavours can develop.
Ingredients
Creamy coconut and cardamom chicken curry
- 12 skinned and boned chicken thighs
- 12 cardamom pods
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 tbsp peeled and finely chopped ginger
- 1 medium-heat red chilli, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
- 3 whole cloves
- 400 g can crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
- 2 tbsp chopped mint
Steps
Creamy coconut and cardamom chicken curry
- Remove as much fat as possible from the chicken thighs. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Crush cardamom pods lightly with a mallet and extract the seeds.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add chicken thighs, smooth side down, and brown quickly; this is just to develop colour and flavour, not to cook them through. Transfer to a plate and season with salt.
- Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan with onion, ginger, chilli and garlic. Turn heat to low and cook very gently for 10–12 minutes, until onion is very tender but not browned. Add chilli powder, cumin seeds, crushed coriander seeds, cardamom seeds and cloves and let the spices heat through. Add tomatoes and water. Bring to a gentle bubble then lower heat and cook gently for 10 minutes.
- Stir coconut cream into sauce, and add chicken thighs, turning them to coat in sauce. Cover pan with a lid and cook gently for 20 minutes, turning thighs halfway through cooking.
- Keep pan covered and let curry rest for 30 minutes.
- Remove chicken thighs to a plate and heat sauce gently until bubbling. Reduce until thick. Return chicken to pan and heat through. Sprinkle with mint and serve.