How to make chicken rogan josh curry with tenderstem

Forget shop bought sauces and make this chicken curry even better with a paste made from scratch

Master the art of making one of the signature dishes of Kashmiri cuisine

Chicken rogan josh curry with tenderstem

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 80 mins

Serves 4

4tbsp ghee or ground nut oil
1kg diced chicken thighs
6 garlic cloves, peeled
5cm fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
4tbsp water
2 onions, thinly sliced
5 whole cardamom pods, bashed and outer pod removed
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
1tsp ground coriander
1tsp whole cumin
1tsp paprika
½tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp turmeric
1tsp garam masala​
2tbsp tomato puree
4tbsp plain yoghurt​
5 whole tomatoes, roughly chopped
200ml chicken stock
300g tenderstem, chopped into bite-sized pieces

To serve

Pilau rice
Naan bread

Heat a frying pan with the 2tbsp ghee or groundnut oil and brown the chicken on a high heat. You don’t need to cook all the way through for now. Put the garlic cloves, ginger and 4tbsp of water in a blender and blitz into a smooth paste.

Heat a large deep pan on a medium heat and add the remaining oil and the sliced onions. Start frying the onions until soft, then add the cardamom, bay leaves and cinnamon and cook for about 30 seconds.

Add the garlic and ginger paste and cook out the garlic for another minute. Add the rest of the spices – ground coriander, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, turmeric, garam masala – and tomato puree and cook for a minute. Put the diced chicken back in the pan with the sauce and coat well. Add the yoghurt and stir well. Add the chopped tomatoes and cover with the chicken stock.

Put a lid on the pan and cook on a low simmer for about 50 minutes or until the chicken is tender. If the sauce has too much liquid take the lid off and let reduce on a higher heat. Throw in the chopped tenderstem at the end of the cooking of the curry (2 minutes) for crunch and vibrancy.

Serve with pilau rice and naan bread.