Ingredients (for four persons):
- 3 lb. boneless chicken breasts, or equivalent boneless thighs
- 4 tablespoons ghee or butter
- 2 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves, (40 g)
- 1 or 2 onions, finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, minced
- 2 cloves garlic,
- 5 cardamom pods, all the seeds from them
- 3 teaspoons turmeric
- 1 dried red hot pepper, chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste (30 ml)
- 1/3 cup ground almonds (25 g)
- 1 cup of canned tomatoes (250 g)
- 1 cup plain yogurt 2% (250 g)
- 1/2 cup 15% or half-half cream (120 ml)
- 6 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
- 1 1/3 cup of rice (240 g)
Preparation:
1) Using your favorite heavy bottomed frying pan (with tight fitting lid), melt the ghee (or butter) then immediately fry the onion for 3 minutes over medium-high setting. Mix in the following ingredients: ginger, the cinnamon, cardamom pods, turmeric, red pepper and press the garlic in. Fry this mixture for one minute, constantly mixing, then pour in the canned tomatoes and mix.
2) Add chicken, previously cut into bite size chunks, and cook everything until the chicken almost done and the tomatoes have melted or a few minutes. Mix in the tomato paste and almonds then stir until you have a smooth and uniform gravy; add more tomato paste if the sauce is still very liquid. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until chicken completely cooked, 15 minutes.
3) Reduce heat setting. In a bowl, mix the yogurt with the cream; pour this to our frying pan at the very end of cooking and simmer, stirring constantly, a few minutes being very careful not to make the gravy boil. Season with salt to taste and take the cardamom pods out before serving.
4) Garnish each plate with cilantro, if desired, and serve over a bed of steamed, or basmati rice.