KASHMIRI CHICKEN CURRY
By: Tom Woodcock
Serves: 4 to 6

Ingredients
For Spice Mixture:
♦ 1 medium-sized cinnamon stick, crushed
♦ 7 cloves
♦ 13 cardamom pods (seeds only)
♦ 10 black peppercorns
♦ 1 tbsp coriander seeds
♦ 1 tbsp cumin seeds

For Curry:
♦ 1 medium onion
♦ 7 garlic cloves, peeled
♦ 2-4 jalapeno chilies
♦ 2” piece of ginger
♦ 1 ½ lbs chicken breasts and/or thighs, cubed
♦ 1/3 cup chicken stock
♦ 2/3 cup raw almonds
♦ 2/3 cup unsalted pistachios (shelled)
♦ ½ cup yoghurt
♦ ½ teaspoon saffron threads

Directions:
Prepare the spice mixture: dry fry each of the spices separately until aromatic, and add to a spice grinder of mortar and pestle after – blend the toasted spice to a fine powder, and set aside.

Cook the aromatics: Roughly chop the onion and fry until golden, then blend in a food processor and set aside. Dice the garlic, chilies and ginger. Fry garlic and chilies together on medium high heat in vegetable oil until garlic is golden, then add the ginger and fry an extra minute. Add the blended onion and stir it all together.

Finishing the curry: Add the cubed chicken pieces and spice powder, stirring to combine over medium high heat. Next, add the chicken stock, stir, bring back to a boil and immediately reduce to low heat – cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Blend the pistachios and almonds in the food processor – remove to a bowl, and stir in the yoghurt. Place saffron threads in a small heatproof blowl, and add 2 teaspoons of boiling water, stirring gently. Once the chicken is cooked through (but not too dry) add the nut mixture and saffron water. Stir well for a few minutes, and salt to taste – serve over rice.

To read more about this dish and my musical pairing, click HERE.