Chicken Korma, the Hero Curry

Another one from the London times...no curry powder in the authentic curries!
I shared this recipe with a friend recently and she loved it so much she called it "Shrimp Curry Hero" (she made it with shrimp - in this case reduce cooking time from 15 to 10 min)
Her picky kids loved it, so do mine.

Ingredients

• 4 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 5-6 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 6 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 bay leaves
• 5 cm cinnamon stick
• 8 cardamom pods, crushed in a pestle and mortar
• 4 cloves
• ¼ tsp black cumin seeds (or regular cumin seeds)
• 130g/4½oz onions, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 3 tinned plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1.5 kg/3lb 5oz chicken pieces, skinned and cut into serving portions
• ¼ - 1 tsp chilli powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 tbsp single cream
• 250ml/8 ¾fl oz water

Method

1. Put the ginger, garlic and 3 tbsp water in the container of an electric blender. Blend until you have a smooth paste.
2. Put the oil in a wide frying pan or saute pan and set over high heat.
3. When very hot, put in the bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom pods, cloves and cumin seeds. Stir once or twice and put in the onions.
4. Stir and fry for about three minutes or until the onions turn brownish.
5. Put in the paste from the blender, and the ground coriander and ground cumin and fry for a minute.
6. Put in the chopped tomatoes and fry for another minute.
7. Add in the chicken, chilli powder, salt and 250ml/8 ¾fl oz water.
8. Bring to a boil. Cover, turn the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes, turning the chicken pieces over now and then.
9. Remove the cover, add the cream and cook on high heat for another 7-8 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Stir gently as you do this.