This recipe was taken from Rick Stein’s Indian cook from his tv series travelling around India. If you haven’t got this book in your food cookbook library then it’s a must. The recipes are superbly written and broken down into easy methods which are easy to follow.

Rick goes on to explain he took this recipe from Lucknow where the dish originated from. Pasanda meaning ‘favourite one’ which refers to the fact the dish is usually made with special cuts of meat. This is a very mild dish which is fragrant with cardamom, ginger, coriander and cinnamon then finished with flaked almonds.

Ingredients – 3 tbsp of vegetable oil, 5cm cinnamon stick, 2 green cardamom pods, 1 onion finely chopped, 1 heaped tsp of ginger paste, 1 tsp of garlic paste, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, chicken thighs, 200g Greek style yogurt, 2 tbsp ground almonds, 1 tsp salt, 100ml water then to finish a handful of chopped almonds & a handful of chopped coriander.

Methods – heat the oil in a large, add the cinnamon and cardamom pods for 30 seconds to make the kitchen nice a fragrant.

Add the diced onion and fry for 10 minutes until browned.

Add the garlic and ginger paste and fry for a further 2/3 minutes.

Stir in the ground coriander, turmeric and chilli powder frying for a further 30 seconds.

Stir well….

Add the chicken, stir well coating the meat with the flavours in the pan.

Add the yogurt, ground almonds, salt and water.

Bring to a simmer for 15-20 minutes until the sauce reduces into a nice thick sauce.

Once the sauce has reduced down finish the dish with almonds and coriander.

Just a superb dish that takes now more than 30 minutes. I served with wild basmati rice.

Perfect for a midweek dish!!!