You know that pregnancy brain is a real thing right? When your body is investing so much energy in growing another human, your thinker is less sharp. That’s fair, I guess.
Short term memory, in particular, is affected. Poor Oliver is suffering the consequences – his life right now is feast or famine.
Literally.
Either I forget I’ve already fed him and he gets second-breakfast (just like mommy!) – or his tummy starts audibly grumbling by 1 pm, when he starts pathetically pawing at his dish to let me know I’ve starved him, again. Poor furry guy.
I think I should use this short-term memory loss to work some humour into my life. Like, saran wrap my own toilet before I go for a walk. When I get back? Boy, will I be surprised!
We’ve been doing a lot of Indian food lately. I realize this is two curries in a row. Hope you don’t mind! The sweet little Indian baby in my belly is insisting on spicy food, and I’m happy to oblige.
This curry is my own creation. I took bits of what I like about a few different curries and made my own favourite. It’s got subtle cinnamon and cardamom* against tomato backdrop, like butter chicken. But the ground nuts are borrowed from two of my other favourites, malai kofta and shahi paneer. And I like a little bit of heat in all my curries, hence the jalapeno and cayenne.
I’ve made this one numerous times using almond butter (Almond Chicken Curry!), and it is amazing that way too. I do love it with cashews, but next time I would grind them to almost a paste (you can see in the photos that they’ve still got a lot of texture – still really good, but I think I’d prefer them finer).
I really love the creaminess imparted by the long-simmered nuts or nut butter – it’s a wonderful richness without being cloying or overly heavy.
Like with any curry, don’t rush it. Caramelize those onions. Simmer longer for deeper flavour. And season well with salt. I love this recipe, Indian hubby wholeheartedly approves, I think you will enjoy it, too.
*A note on the cardamom – I just toss the whole pods into the pot (gently cracked with the side of a knife), but you need to pick out the pods when you’re eating the curry. You can scoop out the seeds with the tip of a paring knife instead, or just use ground.
Cashew Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry roasted cashews salted or unsalted; OR 1/2 cup almond butter
- ¼ cup ghee or butter
- 1 large onion chopped (about 1.5 cups)
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ jalapeño pepper minced
- 3 tbsp garam masala
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- ¾ tsp salt plus more to taste
- 10 whole green cardamom pods cracked (or 1/4 tsp ground cardamom)
- 2 cups diced tomatoes
- 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut in rough 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup cream heavy or half & half, or full-fat plain yogurt
- cilantro chopped, for garnish, optional
Instructions
- In a large pot, melt the ghee or butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until golden and caramelized, about 25 minutes (lower the heat if it's browning too quickly).
- Meanwhile, in a food processor, finely grind the cashews (with a little water if needed) to a fine consistency. Set aside.
- When the onions are soft and golden brown, add the garlic and jalapeño and sauté 1 minute. Add the garam masala, cinnamon, pepper and salt and sauté 1 minute more. Stir in the cardamom pods and diced tomatoes and cook until the oil begins to shimmer on the surface, 3–5 minutes.
- Add the chicken thighs, ground cashews and water; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to low, cover the pot and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
- Uncover the pot and increase the heat until the curry thickens to your desired consistency (about another 15 minutes). Stir in the cream or yogurt, then taste and add more salt until the seasoning is right — the spices and tomato should taste vibrant, not flat. Top with chopped cilantro.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
