Recipe: Zanzibar chicken

Serves 4

Ingredients

• groundnut oil
• 1 chicken, jointed, skin on
• 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 long green chillies, seeds included
• 3 green tomatoes, finely chopped
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp coriander seeds
• 8-9 cardamom pods
• 300ml (½ pint) coconut cream
• 800ml (1½ pints) coconut milk
• ½ lime
• salt and pepper

To serve

• 150g (5oz) cooked green beans, sliced into 3
• 1 green chilli
• bunch of fresh basil
• naan bread

Method

1. Heat some groundnut oil in a large, thick-base pan and fry the chicken pieces for 4-5 minutes until light golden. Remove from the pan.
2. Fry the onion, garlic and 2 green chillies until softened. Then add the chopped tomatoes and stir.
3. Add the coconut cream and coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
4. Grind the spices together in a pestle and mortar and stir into the mixture.
5. Replace the chicken, squeeze in half the juice from the lime and season to taste.
6. Simmer for 45 minutes without a lid. Check that the chicken is cooked through.

To serve

1. Add the cooked green beans to the pan to heat through.
2. Grind the green chilli, basil and the rest of the lime juice in a pestle and mortar.
3. Sprinkle the mix into the chicken before serving with naan bread.