Indian spice box chicken
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Indian spice box chicken

Serve this exquisitely flavoured chicken dish with mounds of fluffy rice

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 - 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr - 1 hr 10 mins

Method

  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).
Try

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

Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2002.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo Vic

    04 November 2007

    Vic rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

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

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  • Binder photo megsnz

    20 November 2007

    megsnz rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fab !!

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  • Binder photo Julie

    24 November 2007

    Julie rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo Orla

    27 December 2007

    Orla rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    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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  • Binder photo sneauxdrop

    03 February 2008

    sneauxdrop rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo thecakepimp

    05 May 2008

    thecakepimp rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo Noodles

    18 June 2008

    Noodles rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is very tasty indeed.

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  • Binder photo Sylvia

    19 July 2008

    Sylvia rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

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

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  • Binder photo law

    05 August 2008

    law commented on this recipe

    what rice is best to with this

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  • Binder photo debdooblah

    11 September 2008

    debdooblah rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo 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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  • Binder photo di

    08 October 2008

    di rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    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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  • Binder photo Carol

    19 October 2008

    Carol rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Very easy dish. Had a curry night last night with friends and served it with pilau rice recipe also from GF Mag. I also made potato and cauliflower curry to go with it. Delicious

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  • Binder photo Annie

    03 March 2009

    Annie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Delicious!!

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  • Binder photo wilko

    05 April 2009

    wilko commented on this recipe

    This tastes very fresh and light - but the garnish is a must to give it a good kick. The lime and spice in the garnish really lifts this dish!

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  • Binder photo Jimbo

    29 April 2009

    Jimbo rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    An absolute winner! Very tasty, will definitely do this one again...

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  • Binder photo Mrs G

    02 May 2009

    Mrs G rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    yummy, served it with lemon rice and it was fantastic

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  • Binder photo muppet123

    20 June 2009

    muppet123 commented on this recipe

    Help! What have I done wrong?! Just made this but instead of looking anything like the picture above, my pan is full of browned chicken pieces floating in a luminous green gravy! Should it really be so green? Tastes fine but just looks like it will glow in the dark.

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  • Binder photo Spot the dog

    05 July 2009

    Spot the dog rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Followed the recipe as stated. Sadly I think my store of fennel and cumin seeds were a little old and had lost some of their pungency. I also forgot to buy some coriander and had to add coriander puree instead. It still tasted delicious. I will definately make again - next time using newly bought spices and fresh coriander. I bet it will be 5 star!

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  • Binder photo MrsI2b

    18 August 2009

    MrsI2b rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I love this recipe! I make it for my husband about once a week (he loves it too!) He loves spicy food so I put some finger chillies in whole so he gets a kick without it blowing my head off. Friends who have had this have commented that its the best curry they've had. The garnish is lovely and fresh and really lifts the dish

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 - 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr - 1 hr 10 mins

Exquisite flavours

Ingredients

Print this recipe
Add to your binder

Per serving

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

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