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my male parent recently texted me a photo of a dish he'd made, nigella lawson's mughlai chicken. apparently he read in a infirmary waiting room magazine that it was 1 of taylor swift's favorite dishes.

that's when you know a famous person has becomes a true household name: when your lx-twelvemonth-sometime father is texting you midday something he learned well-nigh said celebrity while killing fourth dimension in the waiting room of a hospital.

anyways, reading over the recipe reminded me of a dish I used to enjoy making a few years back but hadn't done for a long long while, meera sodha's pistachio and yogurt chicken curry, or pista nu murghi. turns out I got déjà vu considering both recipes are pulled from mughlai cuisine, the nutrient of the medieval mughal empire.

the mughal empire spanned two prosperous, culturally definitive centuries before failing chop-chop in the early 1700s and fading out with a whimper in the 1850s at the easily of the rapacious british east india company. these days, a friend of mine informed me, young people in the cities don't fifty-fifty acquire hindi and instead have english as a outset language. in fact, he was a fleck offended when I causeless he spoke hindi considering he was built-in in delhi and lived there until moving to the us for graduate schoolhouse – I however don't think that'south a crazy assumption to make! then once more, I guess it'south like how my cousins who grew up in hong kong speak perfect continental english language but not much cantonese (as we learned during i unfortunate taxi ride that cost united states of america too much coin and dumped us unceremoniously on the wrong side of the island).

I've always wanted to be fluent in my mother natural language, but in the absence of linguistic communication, I've found other ways to accolade my heritage, largely through food. and I suppose my friend has made his own peace as well – he may non be fluent in hindi, only he sure makes a mean chana masala.

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makes 4 servings

4 oz unsalted pistachios (plus more to serve)
2-in piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
four cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3 tbsp canola oil
two large onions, sliced into fine rings
2 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/4 tsp ground blackness pepper
1 tsp garam masala
one/ii tsp chili powder
1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 3/4-in cinnamon stick or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
one tsp salt (or to taste)
1 three/iv lb skinless, boneless chicken thighs, chopped into iii/four-in cubes
ane cup hot chicken stock
4 tbsp greek yogurt (plus more to serve)
juice of one/ii lemon

meera sodha. made in india. new york: flatiron books, 2015.

ane in food processor or spice grinder, grind pistachios into fine powder and set aside. bash upward ginger and garlic into a fibroid paste using a mortar and pestle and set bated.
2 in a wide-bottomed, lidded frying pan, heat oil over medium heat and when hot, add together onions. fry until caramelized (~xx minutes). add garlic and ginger paste and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes before adding tomatoes.
3 cover with lid and let tomatoes melt until they beginning to break down (~ 5 minutes). add black pepper, garam masala, chili powder, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, and salt. stir, then add chicken pieces to the pan.
4 plow chicken so that the outside on all sides cooks, and so add basis pistachios. stir-fry for another minute, then pour in chicken stock. lightly whisk yogurt with fork, then stir into pan. encompass with lid and cook until the sauce is thick enough to glaze the dorsum of a spoon (~15 minutes). taste and suit to taste.
v serve with a dollop of yogurt, chopped pistachios, and a squeeze of lemon juice. swallow with a bowl of basmati rice or some naan (or both!).