Chicken Bhuna Curry

I love this dish from northern India. Like most Indian curries, it is simply bursting with exotic flavours. Although the traditional recipe requires more time for marinating the meat, and a few more ingredients, I wanted to create a simpler version that can be whipped up on a week night in half an hour.

4 Servings

Ingredients:

1/4 tsp turmeric

1-2 tsp chilli powder, depending on how spicy you would like it

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

750gr chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

3 cardamom pods

1 bay leaf

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 tbsp finely grated ginger

1 chilli, whole with a slit cut down one side (for a milder curry, skip this one out)

2 onions, finely chopped

5 tomatoes, deseeded & chopped

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Fresh coriander, finely chopped

Ingredients:

Create your spice mix by combining the turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala, ground cumin, ground coriander & pepper. Mix well.

Heat a drizzle of oil in a wok on medium high heat & brown chicken on all sides with the bay leaf & cardamom pods. Set aside.

Pat dry the wok and heat another drizzle of oil.

Add the garlic, ginger, chilli & onions. Fry for 3-5 minutes before adding the spice mix & frying another 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the tomatoes & roughly 100ml of water. You can add a little more later if the sauce becomes too thick. Cover & allow to simmer on low heat for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.

Add the chicken & cook another 20 minutes. You may remove the lid the last 5 minutes if the sauce is too thin.

Mix in lemon juice before serving with basmati rice & fresh coriander sprinkled over the top.