Khaliva's Chicken Karahi

Serves 6
Ingredients
• 3 tbsp sunflower or corn oil
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cardamom pods
• 2 cloves
• 5 black peppercorns
• 1 medium-large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp dried red chilli flakes
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 3 tsp ground coriander
• ¼ tsp ground turmeric
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 7.5cm chunk fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
• 3 fat green chillies
• 900g boneless chicken thigh and leg meat, cut into chunky pieces
• Fine sea salt
• Small bunch fresh coriander, finely chopped
Method: How to make chicken karahi
1. Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan or sauté pan and add the cinnamon, cardamom pods, cloves and peppercorns. Cook over a low heat for a minute or two then add the onion and increase the heat a little. Fry until almost golden, stirring regularly.
2. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, dried chillies, cumin, coriander, turmeric, garlic, ginger and whole green chillies. Cook over a medium heat for a 3-4 minutes, stirring. Season with salt.
3. Add the chicken pieces and cook for 2-3 minutes, turning until the chicken is well coated in the sauce. Stir in 50ml water, cover with a lid and leave to simmer gently over a low heat for about 15 minutes or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, stirring occasionally.
4. Take off the lid and increase the heat. Simmer the sauce for a few minutes more, stirring constantly until thick. Remove from the heat, scatter with fresh coriander and serve.