This is one of my favourite curries. It is very spicy, medium hot and the fennel seeds and coconut give it a wonderful, exotic taste.

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 small onion - finely chopped
• 1.5 inch piece cassia bark (or cinnamon)
• 2 green cardamon pods
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger - very finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic - very finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 3/4 teaspoon good chilli powder
• 5 tablespoons Greek-style full cream yoghurt (3/4 of a 150 gm tub)
• 1 teaspoon (or a little more) concentrated tomato purée
• salt to taste
• 2 chicken breasts, skinned and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon chopped up pieces from a block of creamed coconut
• chopped fresh coriander leaf (cilantro) to garnish

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy pan then add the chopped onion and stir for a few minutes with the heat on high
2. Add the cassia, cardamons, cloves and fennel seeds and stir a little then turn the heat down to low and cook for 10 minutes
3. Add the ginger and garlic, stir and cook for another 10 minutes on low heat stirring now and again to make sure nothing browns or burns
4. Add the turmeric, coriander and chilli powder and fry gently for a minute
5. Add 1 tablespoon of yoghurt, stir round and turn the heat up so the yoghurt sizzles in the oil (don't worry, it won't split if you've used full cream yoghurt)
6. When the yoghurt has lost a lot of it's moisture add another tablespoon. Stir and fry as before.
7. Repeat until all the yoghurt is incorporated (the last tablespoons won't sizzle but it doesn't matter)
8. Add the tomato purée and stir in. The colour of the dish should now be similar to the background colour of the recipe list page - a rich orangy yellow with red flecks if you've turned the graphics off.
9. Stir in lots of hot water - enough to make the mixture very fluid
10. Bring to the boil and simmer, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes
11. Add salt to taste
12. Heat a little oil in a large heavy frying pan and stir-fry the chicken pieces over a moderate heat until they are sealed and have turned white
13. Add the chicken to the sauce and simmer gently for another 20-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Stir from time to time. If the sauce gets too dry add a little hot water
14. 10 minutes from the end add the creamed cocunut pieces and stir to melt them. Adjust the consistency of the sauce with some hot water as the creamed cocnut will thicken the sauce
15. At the end of the cooking you should have a fairly thick, creamy sauce with little patches of oil appearing at the top. Remove the cassia and cardamons (if you can find them! Don't worry about the cloves)
16. Serve, garnished with chopped fresh coriander leaf (cilantro)