Chicken Passanda

This Chicken Passanda is one of my all-time favourite curry dishes. I love Madras and Jalfrezi, but the fragrance of this Chicken Passanda recipe adds it to my top 5. The flavours complement each other perfectly. Not one spice is overpowering, yet there is plenty of flavour in this dish.

I have always been disappointed with curry shop Passandas finding them too creamy and over-rich. This is light, fragrant and flavoursome. Give it a try. You’ll be pleased you did.

Chicken Passanda can be cooked on the stove or in a slow cooker.

Serves 4

1 tbsp coconut oil, butter or ghee

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped large

4 chicken breasts, diced into 2″ pieces

6 green cardamom pods, crushed or snipped (to allow the seeds to drop out)

5 cm piece of cinnamon stick

3 cm fresh ginger, finely grated

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp turmeric

Pinch of chilli flakes

1 tbsp tomato puree

500g Greek yoghurt

30 ml water

2 tbsp ground almonds

1 tsp salt

Handful of chopped, fresh coriander

How to cook Chicken Passanda

To cook on the stove:

Use a large frying pan and melt the butter/ghee or coconut oil.

Fry the chopped onions for 5 minutes on a medium heat until they start to brown.

Add the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods (or seeds if you’ve removed them from the husk), reduce the heat a little and cook for a further 10 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for a further 10 minutes on a low to medium heat.

Combine the Greek yoghurt, tomato paste, salt, coriander, turmeric and water into the mix and stir well.

Place the chicken chunks into the mixture with the chopped almonds and combine well.

Use the water to swill out the yoghurt pot and add to the pan, stirring well to coat the chicken.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Check on it occasionally and if the sauce looks too dry add a little more water.

Just before serving add the chopped coriander. (I always add a few handfuls of fresh spinach to the curry just before serving to help my 5-a-day halo shine).

If you can locate the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods, remove before serving up. If not, pretend it’s a treasure hunt!

Serve with brown rice and naan bread.

To cook in the slow cooker:

I cook on the high setting on my slow cooker. It’s a simple as adding all the ingredients, leaving adding the spinach (if you want to add it) and coriander to a few minutes before serving up.

As I don’t pre-fry or pre-boil anything you will not need the butter/ghee or coconut oil. It always turns out delicious.

Cook on a high setting for approximately 5 hours, stirring occasionally if possible.

Serve with brown rice and naan bread.