Chicken Karahi

Method

1. Prep: pat the chicken very dry with kitchen paper (wet chicken makes the oil spit). Quarter the tomatoes. Pound the garlic and 60% of the ginger to a paste in a mortar or on a fine grater, and cut the rest of the ginger into thin matchsticks. Crush the cumin, coriander seeds and peppercorns coarsely in the mortar, and slit the green chillies lengthways.

2. Heat the oil in a 28 cm karahi or wok on high heat. It's ready when the surface shimmers and a piece of chicken sizzles immediately (about 180 °C). Lower the chicken in, laying it away from you to avoid splashes, and stir-fry for 6 min, until it has turned white all over with a few golden patches.

   Add in this stepVegetable oil 3 tbspBone-in chicken (thighs and drumsticks), cut into small pieces 500 g

   high heat

3. Add the garlic-ginger paste and fry on medium-high heat for 1 min, until the raw garlic smell turns nutty. Keep stirring so it doesn't burn.

   Add in this stepGarlic cloves 6Fresh ginger 11 g

   medium-high heat

4. Add the tomatoes and salt, cover and cook on medium heat for 8 min. When the tomato skins loosen, pick them out with tongs (the traditional karahi way), then crush the tomatoes with your spatula.

   Add in this stepRipe tomatoes (medium) 3Salt 1 tsp

   medium heat

5. Add the chilli powder, chilli flakes, turmeric and the crushed cumin, coriander and pepper, and stir-fry uncovered on medium-high heat for 10 min without stopping; this is the bhuna. It's ready when the tomatoes have cooked down to a thick, glossy masala and oil separates at the edges. If it catches, add 2 tbsp water and scrape. Cut into the biggest piece to check it's cooked through.

   Add in this stepRed chilli powder (Kashmiri, for colour) ¾ tspCrushed red chilli flakes 1 tspGround turmeric ¼ tspCumin seeds ¾ tspCoriander seeds 1 tspBlack peppercorns ½ tsp

   medium-high heat

6. Turn the heat down to medium-low heat, stir in the whisked yogurt a little at a time, add half the green chillies and cook for 3 min more. Yogurt splits into curds on high heat, so always lower the heat first.

   Add in this stepPlain yogurt 3 tbspGreen chillies 1½

   medium-low heat

7. Sprinkle over the garam masala, scatter with the ginger matchsticks, the rest of the chillies and the coriander, cover and leave on low heat for 1 min. Bring the karahi straight to the table with hot naan or roti.

   Add in this stepGaram masala ½ tspFresh ginger 7.2 gGreen chillies 1½Fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped 2 tbsp

   low heat