Nepalese chicken curry

Preparing the chicken

1. Shell the cardamom pods and remove the seeds.
2. Add the cardamom seeds along with the fennel seeds to a small frying pan.
3. Fry the seeds together over medium-high heat for around 2 minutes or until you can see a few seeds 'popping' and they smell fragrant. Keep shaking the pan and be careful not to burn them.
4. Add the toasted seeds to a mortar and pestle and grind them down finely.
5. Add the yoghurt to a large bowl. Add the toasted spices along with the garlic and ginger pastes to the yoghurt. Combine well.
6. Add the chicken thighs to the yoghurt marinade and coat well on all sides.
7. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to marinade for a minimum of two hours, or longer if you wish, like overnight.

To make the curry

1. Preheat the oven to 180℃/356℉/gas mark 4.
2. Remove the chicken from the yoghurt marinade, scraping off as much of the yoghurt as possible. Reserve the leftover yoghurt for later.
3. Heat the oil in a large oven-proof pan or saucepan (we use a large cast iron pot).
4. Add the chicken to the hot pan. Over medium-high heat, fry the chicken pieces 5-6 minutes on one side. Turn over and fry for a further 3 minutes. The chicken doesn't have to be cooked through, just well-browned.
5. Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate.
6. In the same pan, add the chopped onions, cumin seeds and cloves. Over medium heat, sauté the onions and spices together for roughly 7 minutes or until the onions are golden brown in colour.
7. Add the ground cinnamon, turmeric, nutmeg, chilli powder and ground coriander and fry together with the onions for 1 minute more.
8. Add the chicken stock to the pan along with the tablespoon of sugar. Deglaze the pan by scraping the bottom with a wooden spatula or large spoon to incorporate the burned bits sticking to the bottom (this adds flavour!).
9. Allow the stock to simmer for 2-3 minutes.
10. Add the chopped, tinned tomatoes, leftover yoghurt marinade, bay leaves and salt to the pan.
11. Over low heat, bring the sauce back up to a light simmer and then remove it from the heat.
12. Place the chicken thighs on top of the sauce along with any chicken juices remaining on the plate.
13. Cook uncovered in the preheated oven for 45 minutes until the meat is cooked through.
14. Sprinkle with optional chopped coriander and serve hot with rice or naan bread.