Indian spice box chicken

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Roopa Gulati

10 ratings

Recipe by Roopa Gulati

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1. Make the Chilli-ginger garnish (see right), before you start the chicken.
2. Cut down the length of the green chillies, then remove the seeds by scraping them out with a teaspoon. You may want to wear rubber gloves for this job - fiery seeds can give the fingers a real chilli sting. Cut off the stalk ends, chop the chillies into rough pieces and put them in a blender or food processor. Peel and roughly chop the garlic and add to the chillies. Do the same with the ginger.
3. Pick the leaves off the coriander and drop them into the blender as you go (reserve the stems for the garnish). Tip in the yogurt and blitz everything to a puree. This can take a few minutes and you may have to stop the blender a few times to scrape all the gunge down from the sides - a rubber spatula will make this job much easier.
4. Peel, halve and thinly slice the onions. Pull the skin off the chicken, using kitchen paper to help you get a good grip. Heat the oil in a saute pan over a medium heat until hot - when you drop in a spice seed or two it should sizzle. Toss in the fennel and cumin seeds and let them crackle and pop for 10-20 seconds, stirring all the time so they don't burn. They're ready when you get a lovely whiff of warm nuts. If the oil starts to smoke, remove pan from the heat.
5. Plop in the butter and let it melt, then throw in the sliced onions and turn the heat down a tad. Stir to mix the onions and spice seeds, then cook for about 10 minutes until the onions are meltingly soft and tinged golden brown. Give them a vigorous stir now and then, but don't stir them too often or they won't take on any colour.
6. Push the onions to one side of the pan, then add the chicken thighs, smooth side down. Increase the heat to between medium and high and fry the chicken until it's golden brown on both sides. This should take about 15-20 minutes and you will need to turn the pieces over halfway (a pair of tongs are good for this). Watch carefully in case the onions start to brown too much - if they do, pile them up on top of the chicken.
7. Stir in some of the yogurt mixture and cook until it disappears - repeat a dollop at a time. Whizz 150ml/¼ pint cold water in the blender to use the last bits of the mixture and add to the pan with a pinch of salt. Stir until bubbling, scraping up any crispy bits. Reduce the heat to its lowest and cover the pan tightly. Simmer for 30-35 minutes or until the chicken is tender when pierced, stirring and turning halfway and adding a splash of hot water if the sauce is too dry. Serve sprinkled with finely chopped coriander stems and a little chilli garnish (put the rest in a bowl on the table).

Getting ahead

If you have time, make this dish a few hours before you need it (or even the day before), to give those tart, tangy chillies a chance to mingle with the toasted spice flavours.

Per serving

706 kcalories, protein 50g, carbohydrate 8g, fat 53 g, saturated fat 17g, fibre 1g, salt 0.67 g

'It seemed like a huge quantity of onions at first, but they cooked down beautifully. It's given me the confidence to try out more Indian recipes.'

Latest comments and suggestions

• Vic

  04 November 2007

  Vic rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Definitely worth making the garnish to go on top - a delicious dish.

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• megsnz

  20 November 2007

  megsnz rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Fab !!

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• Julie

  24 November 2007

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• Orla

  27 December 2007

  Orla rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Really gorgeous, spicy, delicious and easy. A great recipe that tastes really fresh and quite different from anything in the takeaway or cook chill ranges

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• sneauxdrop

  03 February 2008

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• Caroline

  05 May 2008

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• Noodles

  18 June 2008

  Noodles rated and commented on this recipe

  

  This is very tasty indeed.

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• Sylvia

  19 July 2008

  Sylvia rated and commented on this recipe

  

  We love this dish. Have made it a few times.

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• law

  05 August 2008

  law commented on this recipe

  what rice is best to with this

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• debdooblah

  11 September 2008

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• Reni

  23 September 2008

  Reni commented on this recipe

  I couldn't get full fat Greek yogurt so used a lighter one - I think this meant the sauce wasn't as thick as it should have been. Still great. Will make again.

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• di

  08 October 2008

  di rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Have made a few times now and I just love the taste of it, the last time I used red chillies as I could not get green ones and it worked just as well!

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Ingredients

• 50g fat green mild chillies (about 3 large ones)
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 5cm piece of fresh root ginger
• a bunch of fresh coriander
• 200g carton of full-fat Greek yogurt
• 2 medium onions
• 8 medium bone-in chicken thighs (total weight about 800g-1kg/1lb 12oz-2lb 4oz)
• 2 tbsp groundnut or corn oil
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• a good knob of butter
• Chilli-ginger garnish , to serve (see below)

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Difficulty and servings

Serves 4

Preperation and cooking times

Prep 25 30 mins

Cook 1 hr min 1 hr 10 mins

Ingredients

• 50g fat green mild chillies (about 3 large ones)
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 5cm piece of fresh root ginger
• a bunch of fresh coriander
• 200g carton of full-fat Greek yogurt
• 2 medium onions
• 8 medium bone-in chicken thighs (total weight about 800g-1kg/1lb 12oz-2lb 4oz)
• 2 tbsp groundnut or corn oil
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• a good knob of butter
• Chilli-ginger garnish , to serve (see below)

Per serving

706 kcalories, protein 50g, carbohydrate 8g, fat 53 g, saturated fat 17g, fibre 1g, salt 0.67 g

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