Chicken and Cashew Nuts in Black Spices

Submitted by Brian Holley

"This is a curry with a thick and nutty sauce. The recipe was passed to me by Mrs. Shirodkar, he wife of a famous doctor in Bombay. My thanks to her again, for a wonderful dish with not too many ingredients."

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 3 lbs skinless chicken, and jointed
• 4 ounces desiccated coconut
• 12 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1⁄2 inch piece fresh ginger, chopped
• 2 1⁄2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 6 dried red chilies
• 6 cloves
• 3 inches cinnamon sticks
• 8 ounces cashew nuts
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 5 tablespoons oil
• salt

directions

1. In a dry pan roast the coconut, garlic, ginger, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, red chillies,cloves and cinnamon over low heat for 5 minutes.
2. Add 2 oz of the cashew nuts and the onion cook for 10 mins stirring all the time to prevent burning and sticking.
3. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.
4. In a blender process the spices with 3/4 cup water to make a fine smooth paste.(a coarse paste will give the appearance of a curdled curry) Set the paste aside. Wash blender.
5. Grind 1 oz of the nuts with 1 tbsp water to make a paste.
6. Heat the oil in a heavy pot and fry the spice mixture over low heat for 10 minutes Add the ground cashew nuts and salt to taste, cook 2 minutes.
7. Add the chicken and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
8. Add 3 cups warm water and cook on low for 10 mins with the pot covered.
9. Add the remaiming nuts and cook till the chicken is tender.
10. The curry should appear as a dark thick sauce with the whole nuts and chicken.
11. Serve with lemon rice for a nice change.

Reviews

[Chef floWer]

Aroma Aroma Aroma, the whole house smelt divine. I think I didn't cook the spices long enough as I was worried about it being burnt so mine didn't turn out very black. However this didn't take away from the dish it was absolutely yummy. Changes I made was used four cloves of garlic, had an important meeting the next day ;) and used skinless died chicken. Thank you Brian H