Personal

Car Stuff

Extras

Sautéed chicken with fennel and cream

Some recipes appear longer and more involved than they actually are. This mildly spiced chicken supper, at once fragrant and creamy, is such a recipe. Don't be put off by the fact it has a dozen ingredients, it is simplicity itself. Good with brown rice, though some lightly cooked spinach would be just about perfect for mopping up the amber coloured sauce. A mildly spiced dish for a summer's evening. From Nigel Slater. Serves 4

4 large chicken thighs
groundnut oil
2 medium sized heads fennel
300ml double cream
a small handful of coriander leaves -
for the spice paste:
4 green cardamom pods
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground chilli
2 small cloves garlic
1 tbsp grainy French mustard
brown rice to serve

Rub the chicken with salt and pepper and fry gently in a tablespoon of groundnut oil till the skin is golden and starting to crisp. Over a low to moderate heat this will take a good 25 minutes, during which time a savoury golden sediment will attach itself to the pan. After 15 minutes cooking, cut each head of fennel into six long wedges and add to the chicken, tucking them around it.

While the chicken is cooking make the spice paste, first crushing the cardamom pods, discarding the green husks and crushing the black seeds to a powder using a pestle and mortar. Add the turmeric, cumin, chilli and garlic and continue pounding, mixing in the mustard and a tablespoon or two of the oil as you go.

When the fennel is tender and the chicken cooked right through to the bone, lift it out with a draining spoon and set aside. Pour the oil from the pan (you could keep it for frying potatoes) then add the spice paste to the pan, scraping at any sticky sediment with a wooden spoon and stirring it in. Leave the paste to cook for a minute or two, taking care it doesn't burn, (spice pastes catch in a matter of seconds if the heat is too high) then stir in the cream and immediately return the chicken and fennel to the pan. Leave to bubble for a minute or two, toss in the coriander leaves, chopped if they are large, then serve with the brown rice.