The Curry Does Not Go in at the End: the Coconut Milk Is Simmered With Whole Spices Before the Chicken Even Hits the Pan

Most home versions of chicken curry fail at the same point - the curry powder gets thrown into the pan at the end, along with everything else, and you end up with a yellow sauce that tastes of powder. The real difference is made by one step that has nothing to do with the chicken: the coconut milk is simmered with whole spices before you even look at the meat.

Four hundred millilitres of coconut milk is heated without letting it boil. Into it go eight cloves, ten black peppercorns, eight cardamom seeds and a tablespoon of freshly grated ginger. That simmers gently for ten to fifteen minutes, stirred occasionally, then it is strained and set aside. What remains is spiced milk, not milk with spices sitting in it - and the difference registers in the first spoonful.

Three chicken breasts are cut into pieces and browned in a large pan with oil and salt, just to take on colour. Then they come out. Into the same pan go finely chopped onion and two cloves of garlic, and once they soften - a tablespoon of tomato concentrate. The onion is fried slowly; this is where the sweetness the whole dish later leans on is created.

The chicken goes back into the pan, along with a heaped tablespoon of curry powder, a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of turmeric. The spices are stirred briefly in the heat before any liquid goes in - that short contact with the oil is what opens up the aromas. Then the strained coconut milk is poured over and everything cooks at medium heat for twenty minutes.

Serve with white rice. Two pieces of advice worth more than the recipe: do not salt the sauce at the start, because it thickens and the salt concentrates, and let the dish rest for a few minutes before serving. In India the word "curry" covers countless different preparations - this is just the one that works in a home kitchen, with no special ingredients and no equipment you do not have.