Chicken And Cashew Nuts in Black Spices

Adapted from the recipe in the book called “The Great Curries of India” by Camellia Panjabi:

• 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken (light or dark or mixed, whatever tickles yer trigger)
• 1 c. grated coconut (look at the Asian market in the freezer section if you don’t feel like cracking open a coconut, which I did not)
• 10 tsp. chopped garlic (or ~12 cloves, but again, I decided to save a couple minutes and use the HUGE jar in my fridge)
• 1 tsp. ground ginger (the wet stuff from the jar… or 1/2″ knob, peeled and chopped)
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 6 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 lb. cashews
• 1 large onion, chopped
• ~4 Tbsp. oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• *3 dark red chiles: california or guajillo (I didn’t add these because my kids would have a seizure if they so much as tasted a flake of red pepper in their dinner.  God forbid.)

1. Cut up your chicken into 1″ or so chunks.  I asked for a bit less than the original because I used boneless this time.  It’d be good either way, but I had 2 lbs. of breasts in the fridge.
2. Chop up the onion.
3. Fry the coconut, garlic, ginger, coriander, peppercorns, cumin seeds, cloves, and cinnamon over low heat for 5 minutes.  (Include the pepper if you’re using it.)
4. Add 2oz. of the cashews and the onion.  Cook for 10 more minutes.
5. While that’s cooking, grind up an ounce more of cashews into a fine paste (add some water).  Honestly, I’m not entirely sure that you couldn’t just add this ounce in with the other 2 oz.  You grind it all up anyway, but I suspect it’s the difference in cooking time that creates a different flavor note, so what the hell.  Still, if you wanna simplify… go for it.  Just don’t say I told you to if you get caught.
6. Let the spice mix cool down a bit… you need to grind it up in the food processor.  Once cool, add 3/4 c. water and grind the bejeezus out of it.  You want it to turn into a very fine paste to form a nice creamy sauce.  Grind, scrape, grind, scrape, etc.
7. In a large pot, heat the oil, add the ground spices, and fry it for 10 minutes.  Keep stirring so it doesn’t get too cooked on, but don’t sweat it if it does… you’ll add water later, and it’ll cook off.
8. Add the extra ounce of ground cashews and cook for another couple of minutes.
9. Salt to taste… in fact, I’d say salt a bit more than you think you need– don’t go crazy, but after you add the chicken and cook it, you’ll likely add more anyway.
10. Add the chicken and fry on medium for 5 minutes.
11. Add 3 c. water and cover.  Turn the heat down, and let it simmer for 10 minutes or so.
12. Taste it again… I found it to be a little flat still, and so I added 1 Tbsp. honey, 1 tsp. soy sauce, and a bit more salt and pepper.  That did the trick.  The honey really helped to bring out the taste of the coconut and nuts.  And I add soy sauce to everything these days for a little “umami” kick.
13. Add the remaining cashews and cook until… well… you think it’s done.  Longer if you have chicken on the bone or just want to cook it down a bit.

Assuming you’re older than six, you’ll wanna add some heat.  Choose your favorite method and add a touch.  It’s much better with a bit of a burn.  The flavor’s great, but there’s very little acidity or heat.  That makes for a lot of “bass notes” and not much in the upper register.  The original recipe also suggests serving it with lemon.

And now… the food pr0n:

Lunch!

Oh, speaking of that… remember how I didn’t have my camera when I made kara age?  Good news.  I made more and took a picture:

As good as it looks...

And… lastly… we believe that we have figured out who’s been eating our adopted yard cat’s nuggets every night:

Bad... uh... kitty? Dog? Ground Monkey?