Mughlai Chicken Substitutions

Our answer

Nigella's Mughlai Chicken (from FEAST) is an aromatic and creamy chicken curry. It contains a small amount of ground almonds (almond meal) as well as yogurt and double (heavy or whipping) cream. The ground almonds add a little flavour but mostly act as a thickener. It is possible to omit the almonds completely and have a slightly thinner sauce, or ground cashew nuts (if you are able to use these, as they are also a tree nut) would be a good alternative as they also have a slightly creamy flavour. Ground raw peanuts could also be used to thicken the sauce without altering the flavour of the dish. Pignoli (pine nuts) could be used but they have a slightly resin-like flavour which could be a little too strong. If you need to grind the nuts yourself do this in a food processor or clean coffee grider and don't grind for too long as the nuts can turn oily quickly.

For the dairy ingredients coconut would be the most readily-available substitute. This will mean that the curry takes on a coconutty flavour but would fit well with the spices used. Coconut milk yogurt (sometimes labelled as cultured coconut milk) can be found in some major supermarkets or in health food stores and unsweetened coconut cream is also often available from the same sources (or by mail-order) and could be used in place of the double cream.