You will need:
3 tablespoon ghee (or vegetable oil)
1 large onion, finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
5cm piece of ginger, chopped
10 – 15 curry leaves
3 kaffir lime leaves (remove the spine)
1 bunch of coriander, leaves picked and roots and stalks reserved
1 lemongrass stem, white part only, chopped
1 x 1.6 kg chicken, 10 – 12 pieces, skin on and bones in (or 1kg of chicken thigh)
200ml coconut milk or coconut cream
500g peeled and deseeded pumpkin, cut into 5cm dice
400g can diced tomatoes
100g roasted cashews
1 heaped teaspoon salt flakes
Curry Powder
75gm coriander seeds
50gm cumin seeds
8 green cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
6 black peppercorns
½ tsp ground turmeric
1-2 dried chillies
½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (optional)
*Kashmiri chillies are generally used to add a lovely red colour to a dish; they are quite mild and are available from Indian spice shops. A tablespoon of tomato paste can be used instead - just add it to the saucepan at the same time as the curry powder.
How to cook:
For the curry powder, toast the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves in a dry frying pan until fragrant and lightly coloured. Tip the spices into a spice grinder (or mortar and pestle) and grind until a fine powder.
Place the garlic, ginger, curry leaves, lime leaves, coriander roots and stalks, and lemongrass in a blender or small food processor and blitz to a paste.
Place a large saucepan over a medium heat, add the ghee and fry the onion until it is just turning golden. Add the curry powder and cook over a medium heat for 8 minutes, stirring frequently to ensure the spices don’t burn.
Add the paste to the pan and fry for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the chicken, coconut milk, pumpkin, tomatoes, cashews, salt and half the coriander leaves. Slowly simmer over a low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Sprinkle with the remaining coriander leaves and serve with steamed rice.
