Chicken Curry

Ingredients:
Whole cumin seeds,
mustard seeds,
onion,
root ginger,
garlic,
green chilli,
chicken breast,
tomato puree,
green pepper,
ground coriander,
tumeric,
cardamom pods,
fresh coriander,
lemon and  Basmati rice

Channa Masala

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 medium onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (I used a quarter of this because my cayenne is extremely hot)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tablespoon amchoor powder (see note)
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 cups tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-ounce can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
2/3 cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon (juiced) (see note; I used a whole lemon to swap for the amchoor powder)

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, amchoor (if using it), paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.

Eat up or put a lid on it and reheat it when needed. Curries such as this reheat very well, later or or in the days that follow, should it last that long.

Kabli Pulao

Ingredients:

Hatifa shares a recipe for Kabli Pulao handed down to her by her mother. This dish is a complete meal in and of itself - tender beef piled between layers of sugar sweetened rice and topped with a fragrant mixture of carrots and raisins. A dinner party pleaser - this well-known Afghan staple will dress up any table!

Aromatic Yellow Rice

We begin by selecting the following organic ingredients:

2 cups white organic basmati rice
5 organic green cardamom pods
8 organic cloves
3-inch piece organic Ceylon cinnamon
½ teaspoon organic turmeric
2 Tablespoons organic butter (optional)
1 pinch sea salt (optional)

Chicken Korma.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

2cm-piece fresh ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
50g (1/2 cup) flaked almonds
1kg chicken , cut into 3cm pieces
200g (3/4 cup) Greek-style natural yoghurt
2 tbs tomato paste
6 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
60ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
50g butter, chopped
2 brown onions, halved, thinly sliced
1 cup thickened cream

If you are going to leave it overnight, I like to add a little more cream and yoghurt to thicken up the sauce.