Chicken and fig curry

This recipe is from Meera Sodha's Made in India. If you like korma, you will like this. This is child-friendly.

10 soft dried figs
800g skinless, boneless chicken thighs (these are hard to come by in Denmark, so I use breasts and it turns out fine)
300ml Greek yoghurt
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chilli powder
2 tblsp rapeseed oil
1 1/2 large white onions, finely sliced
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
4cm ginger, peeled and finely grated

Boil a kettle and pour boiling water over the dried figs in a heatproof bowl to soften them. Leave them to soak while you deal with the rest of the ingredients.
Chop the chicken into 1.5cm pieces. Place the chicken in a large bowl. Add the yoghurt, garam masala, cinnamon, salt, and chilli powder. Remove the figs from the water, but keep the water to one side. Chop the figs into 1cm pieces and add them to the chicken mixture. Give it all a stir.
Put the oil into a large lidded saucepan, over a medium heat, and add the onions. Fry gently until soft and golden.

Add the garlic and ginger, and cook for 4-5 minutes. Then add the chicken mixture. I used to have trouble with the yoghurt splitting, but I have found that if I turn the temperature right down and add the yoghurt mixture a spoonful at a time, and stir until it is properly incorporated before adding the next spoonful, it doesn't split. Then after it is all added, slowly turn the temperature back up. I add splashes of the fig water to thin it down to the consistence that I want, just to loosen it a little.

Put a lid on the pan and leave to cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so.

Serve with rice and green vegetables like broccoli or green beans. This is also nice with spinach stirred through so that it wilts a little before serving.

Sodha, Meera (2014). Made in India: Cooked in Britain: Recipes from an Indian Family Kitchen. Penguin Fig Tree