Vegetarians should be happy with the Indian dishes I’ve posted so far – for those of you that need something more, this recipe will complete the menu perfectly.

‘Chicken in a Sweet Red Pepper Sauce’ has a spectacular thick red sauce that’s a perfect visual compliment to the other Indian recipes from my previous weeks’ blogs.

Easy to prepare, you’ll need a food processor and you can make everything ahead and chill for 2-3 days in the fridge, or freeze it. Freezing really enhances the flavors and intensifies the spices but at the very least, make it 2 days ahead for all the flavors to develop fully.

I prefer chicken thigh meat as it’s more succulent and being on-the-bone creates a better flavor. Don’t be tempted to cut back on the amount of oil as it carries the spices and if you want more heat, increase the amount of cayenne pepper.

Warm through gently to serve.

Chicken in a Sweet Red Pepper Sauce

CHICKEN in a SWEET RED PEPPER SAUCE (Lal masale wali murghi)

(A Madhur Jaffrey recipe)

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

2 ¼ lbs (1kg) of chicken thighs, on the bone and skinned

4 oz (110g) of onion, peeled and chopped

1 inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 oz (25g) of blanched almonds, preferably slivered

¾ lb (350g) of sweet red peppers, trimmed, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon of ground cumin

2 teaspoons of ground coriander seed

½ teaspoon of turmeric

1/8 – ½ teaspoon of cayenne, or to taste

2 teaspoons of salt

6 or 7 tablespoons of vegetable oil

8 fl oz (225ml) water

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Action:

Combine the onion, ginger, garlic, almonds, red peppers, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne and salt in a food processor – pulse until you have a paste, pushing down the sides with a spatula as needed.

Heat the oil over a medium heat in a large wide pan. When hot, add the entire contents of the food processor and stir fry the paste for 10-12 minutes, until you see the oil forming tiny bubbles around the paste.

Add the skinned chicken pieces, 8 fl oz (225ml) of water, the lemon juice and black pepper.

Cover and turn the heat down low to simmer for approx 25 minutes, or until the chicken is tender, stirring a couple of times.

That’s it!