Indian-Spiced Chicken

After spending nearly two hours simmering in a heavily spiced broth, the chicken in this dish is fall-off-the-bone tender and loaded with flavor. Sky and I are both suckers for Indian food, so this spiced chicken with potatoes and spinach was a big hit. There's a little heavy cream involved, which gave the broth a silky texture, but if you want this dish to be super healthy, you could get away with leaving it out. I would have preferred a little more heat, so I added some sriracha before serving, and next time I think I'd add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes to the broth. I've noted below how you can do that. I used this recipe from Bon Appetit, which some tweaks.

Total time to cook: 2.5 hours
Makes six servings

Ingredients:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
6 chicken legs (drumsticks with thighs, skin-on)
1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 one-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp red curry powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp ground cardamom
(Optional: 1 tsp red pepper flakes)
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup canned tomato puree
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 lb small yukon gold potatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
One bunch of fresh spinach, ripped into large pieces
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/8 cup chopped fresh mint
Kosher salt and pepper
Rice, for serving

Steps:
- In a large pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
- Season the chicken on both sides with a little kosher salt and pepper. In batches, cook the chicken skin side down for about eight minutes, until the skin is golden brown. Don't turn the chicken. Set the chicken aside.
- In the same pot, again over medium-high heat, cook the onions, garlic and ginger for about 10 minutes, until the onions are soft.
- Mix in the tomato paste and all of the spices (including the red pepper flakes, if you want more heat). Cook until the tomato paste turns everything a deep red, no more than five minutes.
- Stir in the chicken broth, tomato puree and cream. Add the chicken. Season with a little more pepper. Turn up the heat and bring the broth to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and partially cover the pot. Simmer the chicken for at least an hour and a half, until it's almost falling off the bone.
- Add in the potatoes and spinach. Cook for at least another 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
- While the potatoes are cooking, mix the yogurt and mint in a small bowl. Keep the yogurt in the fridge until you're ready to eat.
- Also while the potatoes are cooking, make as much rice as you need.
- Spoon the chicken, potatoes and a little broth into a bowl, with some rice and topped with a dollop of the mint yogurt. Serve hot.