Garlic and lime chicken nuggets in a cashew nut curry sauce

Ingredients

200g cashew nuts 4 free range chicken breasts 10 cloves of garlic 3 fresh limes 90ml olive oil sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped 30ml coriander seeds 10ml dried chillies 4 cloves 1 cinnamon stick 70g coconut, fresh or desiccated 3 onions, thinly sliced 2 cups water fresh coriander 2 naan breads 15ml butter, melted 125ml coriander pesto

Method

Soak 100g of cashews in warm water for about an hour, drain and blend with water to make a paste. Cut the chicken into small evenly sized blocks and marinate with two crushed garlic cloves, the juice and zest of half a lime and 15ml of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. In a dry pan on a low heat add eight crushed garlic cloves, the ginger, coriander seeds, dried chillies, cloves and the cinnamon. Gently heat for three to four minutes. Add fresh or desiccated coconut, 75g of cashew nuts and two sliced onions with 15ml olive oil and fry for about 10 minutes until everything has softened. Remove from the pan and blend with a cup of water to form a paste. Put the paste back in the pan over a medium heat. Add another cup of water and simmer for 10 minutes. Toast the remaining cashews in a dry pan for three to four minutes on a low heat until lightly golden. Remove from the pan and reserve for serving. Using the same pan add 60ml of olive oil, turn up the heat to medium and fry an onion until golden brown and slightly crunchy. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen towel. In the same pan on a medium to high heat fry the chicken in batches (do not let them boil) for three minutes turning until golden brown and cooked through. To serve place the cashew nut curry first, topped with the chicken, fried onions, fresh coriander and a squeeze of lime juice. Eat with torn warm naan bread brushed with melted butter and a dollop of coriander pesto. SERVES 4   Recipes and styling Hannah Lewry Photographs Russell Smith This recipe originally appeared in HL June 2014   READ MORE: Slow-roast Karoo lamb neck Creamed ricotta cheesecake 5 umami mushroom recipes