Can I Use A Plant-Based Yogurt For the Mughlai Chicken?

Our answer

Nigella's Mughlai Chicken (from FEAST) is a fragrant dish made with cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. The sauce is finished with the addition of double cream and Greek yogurt.

You could use unsweetened coconut cream as a plant-based alternative to the double cream as it has a fat content of about 30%, so will be stable in cooking. Greek yogurt has a fat content of around 5%, so you need to find a plant-based alternative that has a similar fat level and is natural or unflavored and unsweetened. Almond-milk yogurt usually has a fat content of around 5%, though individual brands vary and you should check the nutritional infomation on the packaging before using it. Coconut-milk yogurt usually has a fat content of around 10% (again, check the packaging) so can be used in cooking. However, the use of coconut-based ingredients for both the cream and yogurt may make the sauce taste slightly coconutty, so it depends if you would mind this or not. Do not let the sauce boil once the yogurt has been added, as the yogurt may split. Finally, plant-based dairy alternatives tend to have a naturally slightly sweeter taste than regular dairy, so you may prefer to omit the tablespoon of sugar from the sauce during cooking. Taste the sauce before serving and add a little sugar at that point if you feel that the sauce needs it.