Chicken korma

SERVES 4-5

800g chicken joints

150g natural yogurt

4 garlic cloves, very finely chopped

6tbsp oil

1tbsp lemon juice

1tbsp white poppy seeds and 2tbsp cashew nuts, soaked together in 50ml hot water 2 onions, roughly chopped 5cm piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

1-2 small green chillies, roughly chopped 3 bay leaves

12 green cardamom pods, cracked ½tsp ground turmeric

1½tsp ground coriander

1½tsp salt, or to taste

3tbsp double cream

Large pinch of ground cumin

1 Make slits in each chicken joint, place in a large bowl and add 4tbsp of the yogurt, 2tsp of the garlic, 1tbsp of the oil and the lemon juice. Mix thoroughly until well coated. Cover and chill for 2 hours, or overnight.

2 In a spice grinder or blender, blitz the soaked poppy seeds and cashews with their water, then mix with the remaining yogurt.

3 Heat the remaining oil in a large heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the onions, ginger, chillies and remaining garlic, and fry until soft and golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and blitz together to a smooth paste.

4 Pour the paste back into the same pan, add the bay leaves and cardamom and fry together over a low-medium heat for 2-3min.

5 Add the turmeric, ground coriander and salt and stir-fry for 1min.

6 Next, add the poppy, cashew and yogurt paste and continue stir-frying for a further 2min.

7 Add the chicken joints, stir-fry for 5-6min, adding a little hot water to loosen if needed, then add the cream, cover and cook for a further 15-20min, or until cooked through.

8 Garnish with a sprinkling of ground cumin.

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