Green chicken curry with cashew nuts

NZ Herald 17/11/2009

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There's bags of flavour here, but check the timings - it's probably more suited to a night when you've got a bit of time on your hands and are cooking indoors, rather than one of those nights when the speed of a wok meal could serve you better.

Cashew-nut curry paste

2	Onions, large, finely sliced
3 tbsp	Canola oil, or use peanut oil
½ cup	Roasted cashew nuts, salted
6	Garlic cloves, halved
1 cup	Coriander leaves, loosely packed
1 cup	Mint leaves, loosely packed
4	Green chillies, coarsely chopped

Curry

50 g	Tamarind pulp
3 tbsp	Canola oil, or use peanut oil
1 tbsp	Fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2	Green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
1 kg	Boneless chicken thigh, rinsed, patted dry and halved
1 tsp	Salt
1 to serve	Natural yoghurt
1 to serve	Red chilli, sliced
1 to serve	Coriander leaves, chopped
1 to serve	Mint leaves, chopped

Directions

To make the cashew-nut paste, fry onions gently in 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium-sized frying pan for 40-45 minutes until they caramelise; stir often, especially towards the end of cooking time. While the onions are cooking, soak the cashew nuts in warm water to soften for 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
Fry garlic cloves in a small pan in 1 tablespoon of oil for a few minutes until lightly coloured. Transfer to a food processor with the cashew nuts, onions, coriander, mint and chillies and process to a paste.
To make the curry, put tamarind pulp in a small bowl and pour in 1/2 cup hot water. Leave to soften for 5 minutes, then use your fingers to separate the pulp from the seeds. Push the mixture through a sieve and discard seeds and tough fibre. Heat oil over a gentle heat in a casserole, and add ginger and green chillies. Fry for 1-2 minutes then add the cashew-nut paste. Fry for 5 minutes, stirring, then add chicken. Lightly brown chicken then add tamarind liquid and mix in.
Cover casserole with a lid and simmer very gently for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked. If the thighs are large they may take more than 30 minutes to cook through; add a little water if the sauce gets dry.
Season chicken with salt then tip into a serving dish, scraping in all the sauce, or simply serve in the casserole. Pour over a little yoghurt and garnish with sliced red chilli and chopped coriander and mint. Serve piping hot.