Cardamom butter chicken

Serves 4

Mohamid Islam

Young Cook Finalist Recipe

• Mr Nick McKee
• Tor Bank School, Belfast
• Special Education

Ingredients

• 4 Northern Ireland chicken breasts
• 2 cloves garlic
• Small piece fresh ginger, chopped
• 2 green chillies
• Small bunch fresh coriander
• 2tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2tsp turmeric
• 2tsp garam masala
• 2tsp ground cumin
• 1tsp ground fenugreek
• 1 can tomatoes
• 12 cardamom pods, seeds removed
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 150ml Northern Ireland yogurt
• 50ml Northern Ireland double cream
• 200g basmati rice

Method

• To make the curry paste, chop the chillies, garlic cloves, ginger, coriander stems and a pinch of salt then blend together in a food processor
• Mix together the turmeric, cumin, garam masala and fenugreek. Leave to one side until later. Remove seeds from the cardamom pods.
• Chop chicken breasts into chunks.
• Heat two tablespoons of oil in a pan, cook the onion slowly until golden (15 to 20 minutes). Then mix in the curry paste with the onion and cook for 5 minutes.
• Next add in the spice mix and cook until fragrant. Remove the onion mix from the pan and place in a bowl.
• Add one tablespoon of oil to a pan and cook the chicken until golden. Tip into a bowl and set aside.
• Add about 200g of basmati rice to a pan of water, bring to the boil and simmer until soft and fluffy.
• Return the onion mix to the pan and add cardamom, tinned tomatoes, 400ml of water and a cinnamon stick. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes or so.
• Return the chicken to the pan with the sauce and cook until the sauce has thickened and chicken is cooked through. Then stir in the yogurt and cream.
• Serve with rice.