Chicken Korma

I would never order a korma in an Indian restaurant - it just seems wimpy - but at home, I'm quite happy to cook a pleasantly mild curry, because that means I can eat more of it. This may look like a long list of ingredients, but it's actually quite easy to put together, and will only take about half an hour to cook. Makes enough for 2 generous portions - which you should scoop up with poppadoms or naan bread, ok?

1 / 2 cup blanched almonds
1 / 2 cup cashews
1 onion
1 tin tomatoes
4 cm ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp fresh chilli
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 / 4 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp garam masala
1 chicken breast
1 capsicum (any colour is fine, or you could use a mixture of different colours)
1 spring onion
1 cup water
1 handful fresh coriander
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
salt


Right, first of all, the chopping. Finely chop the onion, garlic and fresh chilli, and roughly chop the almonds and cashews. Chop the chicken breast into bite-size chunks, and the capsicum and spring onion into 1cm pieces.

Blitz the almonds, cashews and tin of tomatoes in a food processor or blender until almost smooth - a few chunks is fine.

Mix together the spices - ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, garam masala and chilli powder. Grab a large frying pan, pour in the tablespoon of vegetable oil and put on a high heat to warm up. Once hot, add the onion, garlic and ginger, and cook for 5 minutes or so until everything starts to brown. Pour in the spices, stir, and cook for a minute more.

Add the chicken pieces and cook for 5 minutes or so until they're starting to colour. Pour in the tomato and nut mixture, and a cup of cold water. Add the capsicum, turn the heat down slightly and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste, and add salt.

Stir through the spring onion and coriander, and eat.