original recipe

this dude imran ali is a really good cook and this recipe is fucking delicious. he doesn't have a written copy up because he's trying to sell a cookbook, which i respect, but also i'd already taken notes on how to make this and here they are

also i don't actually have one of my own photos of this because i forgot to get them last time. sorry!

ingredients

• 5 tomatoes
• 3 bay leaves
• 1-2 cinnamon sticks
• 1tsp whole black peppercorns
• 800g-1kg chicken thigh, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 8-9 cloves of garlic
• 2x thumb sized piece of garlic, chopped / grated
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 4 bullet chillis (optional)
• head of fresh coriander
• 1/2 cup of yoghurt
• 1 tsp garam masala

method

1. halve and remove stems from tomatoes.
2. heat pan to high heat. add 6 tbsp of neutral oil and toast 3 bay leaves, 1-2 cinnamon stick and 1tsp black peppercorns.
3. after 30 seconds, add 800g - 1kg of chicken thigh chopped into 1 inch pieces. add a large pinch of salt and stir the chicken to get full coverage
4. cook for 3-4 minutes until the outside of the chicken is no longer pink
5. stir through garlic and ginger and cook for two minutes, then add tomato halves on top of the chicken, cut side facing down
6. reduce heat, cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes
7. check the tomato skins with a pair of tongs - if you can grab the skins from the top and they release easily, then remove them all and gently press the tomatoes into a puree. if they give some resistance, cover for two more minutes and try again
8. increase the heat for another 2-3 minutes
9. add 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder, 1 tsp black pepper powder, 1 tsp chilli flakes, 1 tsp tumeric and 4 bullet chillis (i normally skip these because im a wuss)
10. simmer for another 10 minutes on medium heat. while waiting, chop a head of fresh coriander finely and a thumb sized knob of ginger into julienne slices
11. add the 1/2 cup of yoghurt and a teaspoon of garam masala, then let simer for another 10 minutes
12. the oil should have separated to the top by this point. stir in half of the fresh coriander and half of the sliced ginger, then serve with more fresh coriander and the rest of the sliced ginger on top