I love to try new cuisines. I find it fascinating how people use the same spices and products differently. I tried my hands on few, and I think the indian cuisine is my favourite. It’s so rich, full of flavours and contains so many spices. Sometimes I catch myself at adding some of them to a simple pasta dish to spice it up a little.

We found few really good indian restaurants, and they even do home delievery, so we could still enjoy a good curry not having to change the sweatpants. But I suppose in the long run it could be heavy on my wallet. So why not cook the dishes at home? Nice music in the background, a glas of wine, and maybe cooking with friends-what better can there be? Of course, it may happen that in the end I’ll smell like the dish i’m preparing, but that is not a long lasting effect.

If you also would like to try your skills at a homemade indian curry, this recipe is perfect. It’s so good and fresh, you’d really think it was delivered by an indian restaurant. This dish requires a little bit of time, but when you try the first bite, you’ll see all the effort was well worth it.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 40min plus time to marinade                       cooking time: 30min

FOR THE MARINADE:

600g chicken, without skin and bones

ca 50g garlic

ca 50cm ginger

rapeseed oil

THE BASIS:

2 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil

2 big onions

1 cinnamon stick

3-4 cardamom pods

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp of black pepper

few cloves

50g ginger

50g garlic

FOR THE ALMOND-COCONUT SAUCE:

50-60gr shredded coconut

50-60gr shredded almonds

1 tbsp salt

200ml water

1 cup cream (30% fat)

½ tsp ground cardamom

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp fenugreek

1 lemon

basic sauce

2 cans of tomatoes

fresh coriander

Wash the chicken and cut into pieces. Chop the ginger and the garlic and add to the chicken. Pour some oil and mix everything. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but better leave overnight.

Put the tomatoes to a pot, bring to the boil, then cook on small heat for ca 20min, until the water evaporates.

In the meantime prepare the basic sauce, which is like the mother ingredient of most of the indian dishes. Peel and chop the onions, garlic and ginger. In a large pan heat up the oil and add the spices (if you can, use the whole spices, not ground). Simmer for a few minutes. The moment cumin starts to pop, add the onions. Stir well, and cook until golden brown, then lower the heat and cook for additional 10min. Season with garam masala, fenugreek and cardamom.

Add the tomatoes and blend it all together. Move to a bigger pot. Add the water and let it boil. Add the shredded almond and coconut and cook everything over a medium heat for 5min.

While you’re at it, take the marinated chicken out of the fridge and scrape as much of the marinade as you can. Add them to the sauce and cook everything for additional 15-20min. Pour the cream. Add water if needed. Season with salt and lemon juice to taste. Serve with freshly chopped coriander.