So today I was feeling very heavy headed, like the cold Grover has been sporting was just moments away from consuming my sinuses, head-achy and just generally exhausted. We had attempted a whole family outing (including my brother, niece and mother) which was marked by torrential rain, flash floods, and a district wide blackout. Naturally the conversation turned to food. I wanted something comforting, rich but not cloyingly so, saucy and served over rice.
I remembered a Nigella recipe I’d spied a few weeks back when I was checking her slow roasted chicken and lemon recipe and thought, curry! That’s what I want! A curry!
People, I haven’t made a curry in YONKS – over a year – the last being for Chef’s mother’s birthday and that being mutli-stepped and relatively complex. So I pulled out Nigella’s Forever Summer, found her recipe for chicken and cashew nut curry and thought BINGO!
I have altered it slightly – I used half the amount of chicken thighs and added chunks of butternut pumpkin and used one big long green chilli as opposed to two small ones. I forgot to buy some chicken stock so I used a few ice cubes of beef jus and a cup of water – the original recipe calls for one cup of strong chicken stock. Next time I’m going to throw in a tin of chickpeas.
It was one of those dishes that, even though you are absolutely chockers, you want to keep eating. Such is its yum-factor.
Chicken and cashew curry
Adapted from Nigella Lawson, Forever Summer
- Peanut oil
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 2 cm piece fresh ginger, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 long green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 1tsp turmeric
- 1tsp ground cumin
- 1tsp ground coriander
- 400ml coconut milk
- 250ml strong chicken stock
- 4 cardomom pods
- 500g skinned chicken thighs, cut into chunks
- 200g green beans, topped, tailed and cut into chunks
- 125g cashew nuts
- 3tbsp sour cream
- bunch of coriander, chopped
- Heat some oil in a wide deep saucepan and saute the onion with a little salt until softened
- Add the ginger, garlic, chilli, turmeric, cumin and coriander and cook, stirring, for a minute or so
- Stir in the milk and stock and once everything is mixed together add the cardomom pods and chicken and cook for 10 minutes or so.
- Check for seasoning and add the beans, cook for a further 5 minutes
- Once the beans are in toast the cashews in a frypan
- Add the cashews, sour cream and half the coriander then serve w/ rice, topped with a sprinkle of coriander
Serves 6.