Cardamom Chicken

Finally I am able to continue our Indian week after much delay. When I first laid my eyes on the recipe of this dish I thought there might be a misprint for the ingredients, the list is simply too short for an Indian dish I thought. I soon changed my mind when I had the very first taste of the finished dish. Here you are able to enjoy the wonderful aroma and taste of cardamom; less is more? Absolutely! 

P.S Prepare this a day ahead as it will taste even better the next day.

recipe adapted from The Food Of India
serves 4 to 6 as part of an Indian meal
you'll need;
1 free range chicken, skinned* and cut into 12 pieces
25 cardamom pods, removed from pods and pounded to a fine powder
6 garlic cloves, crushed
3 cm piece of ginger, grated
300 ml of Greek yoghurt
1.5 tsp of ground black pepper
grated rind of 1 lemon
2 tbs of ghee (clarified butter)
400 ml of coconut milk
6 green chillies, pricked all over
1/2 a cup of chopped coriander leaves
juice from half a lemon
salt to taste
* don't throw away the skin, turn it into some delicious chicken fat and crackling instead

The star of the dish.

Prepare the marinade - mix yoghurt with cardamon, grated ginger, garlic, pepper and lemon rind.

Marinate the chicken pieces with the marinade with salt overnight.

Brown chicken pieces in batches with ghee.

Place chicken pieces with the remaining marinade and coconut milk in a pot.

Bring everything to a boil then add the green chillies and chopped coriander leaves. Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes till the chicken is tender. Check the seasoning and stir in the lemon juice.

Serve this as part of an Indian meal. This is definitely a keeper!