As curry dishes go this is probably the simplest, yet the flavours are delicate and the results delicious.

Ingredients - serves 6

1 large chicken
3 red peppers, seeds removed, coarsely chopped
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1” knob of fresh ginger, peeled & coarsely chopped
100g ground almonds
1 heaped tsp ground coriander
1 heaped tsp ground cumin
half tsp cayenne pepper
juice and grated zest 1 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil
large bunch of fresh coriander/ flat leaf parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

for the rice:
10 fl oz Basmati /20 fl oz water
1 heaped tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
6 cloves, 6 cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
50g butter, cubed

Method

This recipe requires diced chicken, which means you’re going to have to skin, joint and dice yours. This is reasonably simple; cut between leg and breast, pull sideways to break joint at the backbone, skin and remove flesh with a sharp knife. Remove breasts also and skin them. The rest is for the stock pot.

Place the onion, ginger, garlic, red pepper, ground coriander, ground cumin, cayenne and 2 tsp salt into a food processor, process to a paste. Cut the chicken into generous cubes. Place the olive oil in a large sauté pan, preferably one that has a lid, and sauté the chicken pieces briefly to seal and colour to golden over a fairly high heat.

Reduced heat and stir in the curry paste, allow to cook down for 20 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally. Now remove the lid and add juice of the lemon and some pepper and the ground almonds which will enrich and thicken the sauce. Cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, by which time the chicken pieces will be cooked. Check the seasoning and add more salt/pepper if necessary.

for the rice:
Place all the ingredients, except the butter, in a saucepan with a lid. Bring to the boil, reduce to lowest heat and pop on the lid. After about 10 minutes check the rice, if the water level is below the level of the rice then turn off the heat and pop the lid back on and leave to stand for at least 10 minutes – the rice will be cooked perfectly, without going sticky, and will remain hot for quite some time. You will also note that the spices are sitting on the surface of the rice for easy removal.

Remove the spices from the rice and fold in the butter cubes. Spoon the rice between 6 warmed plates. Add the fresh flat leaf parsley /coriander and the lemon zest to the curry, fold in, and spoon the chicken and sauce between the 6 plates. Serve.