← Nouns Cooking · Indian

Ingredients

• 1 kg bone-in chicken pieces, skin removed
• 3 tbsp ghee or mustard oil
• 2 black cardamom pods
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 4 Cloves
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds (ideally shahi jeera)
• 1 Onion, thinly sliced (optional)
• 1 tbsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 300 ml Water
• 400 g full-fat plain yogurt, at room temperature
• 2 tsp ground fennel seeds
• 1 tsp ground dry ginger
• 1 tbsp dried mint, crumbled

Method

1. Heat the ghee in a heavy pan over medium heat. Add the whole spices and cumin and let them crackle for 30 seconds. Add the onion if using and cook for 5 min until soft but not brown.
2. Add the chicken, ginger paste and salt and cook for 5 min, turning, until the pieces turn white all over.
3. Pour in the water, cover and simmer on low heat for 20 min until the chicken is almost cooked.
4. Meanwhile whisk the yogurt with the ground fennel and dry ginger until completely smooth.
5. Turn the heat to its lowest. Ladle a little hot cooking liquid into the yogurt to warm it, then pour it into the pan, stirring constantly in one direction so it doesn’t split.
6. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 15–20 min, stirring often, until the sauce is creamy and the chicken reaches 75°C (165°F) at the bone.
7. Crumble in the dried mint, taste for salt and serve with plain steamed rice.

Tips

• Never let the yogurt boil hard: keep the heat low and keep stirring, or it will curdle into grains.
• Dried mint is common in Middle Eastern shops; fresh mint is not a good swap here.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Archana's Kitchen Yummy Tummy Aarthi