You can customize this recipe to your own preferred spice level by adjusting the amount of chilli to make it milder or more spicy. A mild chicken curry is an easy but impressive meal to feed a crowd, perfect for when you’ve got friends over or family staying. You can serve with some chopped fresh chilli for anyone who likes more spice to sprinkle on top.
Ingredients
- 3tbsp sunflower oil
- 1.25kg chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 4 tomatoes, finely chopped
- 400ml can coconut cream (not coconut milk)
- 1tbsp tamarind paste
- a large bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
- For the paste:
- 1-5 large red chillies, roughly chopped
- ½tsp ground cumin
- 1tsp ground coriander
- 6 peppercorns
- ½tsp cinnamon
- 5 cardamom pods, seeds removed
- 5cm piece ginger, peeled
- 5 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 2tsp garam masala
Method
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan and brown the chicken in batches; set aside. Whizz up all the paste ingredients in a food processor. Fry the paste in the sauté pan for a few mins then add the chicken to the paste and coat well with the paste, stirring for a few mins. Add the tomatoes, coconut cream and tamarind paste. Bring to the boil, then simmer, uncovered, for 50 mins, until the chicken is tender.
You can freeze it at this point or it will keep in the fridge for 2 days. The flavour is much better with keeping. When you are ready to serve, stir in the fresh coriander. Serve with rice, mango chutney, pappadums and a fresh tomato salad with a squeeze of lemon.
