Yogurt & almond chicken curry

Our ultimate Friday night food – just add naans. Make a double batch of the fragrant curry paste and freeze for next time

Prep:15 mins
Cook:40 mins

Serves 6
Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 422
fat 25g
saturates 7g
carbs 7g
sugars 4g
fibre 2g
protein 42g
salt 0.47g

Ingredients

2 green chillies, roughly chopped
100g ground almonds
thumb-size piece ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves
200ml single cream
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves
2 cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
4 tsp garam masala
12 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
100g full-fat natural yogurt
20g pack coriander, chopped
naan bread or basmati rice, to serve

Tip

Spice it up
For a paste-based curry, fry an extra spoonful of paste in a separate pan for 1-2 mins until fragrant, then stir into the finished dish. For a spice-based curry, fry some more spices in a drop of oil before stirring in – although garam masala can be sprinkled straight over the finished curry. A scattering of sliced chilli just before serving adds a lovely kick.Cool it down
If you’ve added too much spice to a creamy Indian curry, stir in some natural yogurt (or a good splash of coconut cream to a Thai curry). If you’ve made a hot tomato-based curry, serve with a bowl of cooling raita and lots of plain rice or naan bread. Serve ice-cold milk-based lassis with Indian curries instead of water.

Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Whizz the chillies, almonds, ginger, garlic, cream and 300ml water to a paste.
Heat the oil in a large, deep ovenproof casserole and add the onion, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and 2 tsp garam masala. Fry, stirring for 1 min, then add the paste. Bring to a simmer and season with salt. Add the chicken, turning each thigh to coat it, then bring back to a simmer. Blob the yogurt over the top.
Bake in the oven for 40 mins or until the chicken is cooked through (spoon any excess fat from the surface). Sprinkle with the remaining garam masala and the coriander. Serve with naan or rice.