Ingredients

• 4 cm piece fresh ginger
• peeled and coarsely chopped
• 5-6 garlic cloves
• peeled and coarsely chopped
• 6 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 bay leaves
• 5 cm cinnamon stick
• 8 cardamom pods
• crushed in a pestle and mortar
• 4 cloves
• ¼ tsp black cumin seeds (or regular cumin seeds)
• 130g/4½oz onions
• peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 3 tinned plum tomatoes
• chopped
• 1.5 kg/3lb 5oz chicken pieces
• skinned and cut into serving portions
• ¼ - 1 tsp chilli powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 tbsp single cream
• 250ml/8 ¾fl oz water

Directions

• Put the ginger
• garlic and 3 tbsp water in the container of an electric blender. Blend until you have a smooth paste.
• Put the oil in a wide frying pan or saute pan and set over high heat.
• When very hot
• put in the bay leaves
• cinnamon
• cardamom pods
• cloves and cumin seeds. Stir once or twice and put in the onions.
• Stir and fry for about three minutes or until the onions turn brownish.
• Put in the paste from the blender
• and the ground coriander and ground cumin and fry for a minute.
• Put in the chopped tomatoes and fry for another minute.
• Add in the chicken
• chilli powder
• salt and 250ml/8 ¾fl oz water.
• Bring to a boil. Cover
• turn the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes
• turning the chicken pieces over now and then.
• Remove the cover
• add the cream and cook on high heat for another 7-8 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Stir gently as you do this.