Spiced Chicken with Sour Cream
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp oil
- 6 whole cardamom pods, seeds removed
- 2 tsp whole coriander seeds
- ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp whole cumin seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 2 lb fryer chicken or chicken parts
- ½ cup currants (or raisins, if currants are unavailable)
- 1 cup sour cream (or 1 cup plain yogurt plus ½ cup sour cream)
Optional extras
- ¼–⅓ cup slivered almonds (toasted if you prefer)
- 2 tbsp shredded (or chipped) coconut (also toasted)
Method
- Heat oil in a pan until quite hot but not smoking.
- Add cardamom seeds, coriander, cinnamon, cumin, and bay leaf. Cook until seeds crack (1–2 minutes).
- Reduce heat, then add garlic and onion. Cook until tender and translucent.
- Reserve onion mixture in a dish.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper, then roll in flour.
- Fry chicken in the pan, adding oil if needed, until almost done.
- Add the reserved onion mixture and currants.
- Add sour cream (or mixture of sour cream and yogurt) and simmer until chicken is tender and sauce has cooked down a little.
- Serve with Saffron Sweet Rice.
Notes
- After cooking, the spices continue to infuse the chicken and mellow the flavor. Refrigerating this dish for a day, then warming it, enhances its flavor!
- The dish can be cooled and frozen before adding the sour cream, then thawed and resumed at a later time point.
- Increase spices if using lots more onion, otherwise the taste is weak.
- You can substitute firm tofu for the chicken.