I’ll be making it again and again.
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After enjoying countless hours of Taylor Swift’s music, I’ve learned a few things. Mostly, that if it weren’t for the talented musician part, we’re actually quite similar. We both love antiques and thrift stores, we’ve both dated men who didn’t deserve us, and we’re both excellent cooks.
While we have a lot in common, the cooking part is probably where we’re most alike. Swift has excellent taste in candy, cookies, and celebrity chef recipes—like this total classic from Ina Garten.
A few years ago, Swift did an interview with Elle magazine in which she revealed “30 Things I Learned Before Turning 30.” Number 10 on the list was “three recipes I know I’ll be making at dinner parties for life.”
Included in that list was celebrity chef Nigella Lawson’s Mughlai Chicken—a creamy, curry-like chicken dish from Northern India with royal roots.
Of course, I was intrigued, so I searched for Lawson’s recipe and sighed. It was a good and bad sigh. Good, because after reading it, I knew Swift was on to something—this recipe did sound pretty awesome. Bad, because there were over 20 ingredients, many steps, and I could already see the stack of dirty dishes piling up in my sink. But I persisted.
Sara Haas
The recipe begins by processing ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, and chili flakes into a paste in a food processor. Ground almonds and water are then added, and everything gets processed again. Next, chicken thighs are seared in a large pan, just long enough to get some color.
After removing the chicken, Nigella adds cardamom pods, a cinnamon stick, a few bay leaves, and cloves to the pan along with some onions. Once the onions have softened, the ginger paste mixture is added to the pan, along with yogurt, chicken stock, cream, and golden raisins.
The chicken also goes back in and is sprinkled with a bit of garam masala, sugar, and salt. The pan gets covered and then cooks over low heat until the chicken is fully cooked, which takes about 20 minutes. The final touch is a garnish of toasted sliced almonds.
Lawson doesn’t share ideas on serving, so I went with my gut and scooped mine over bowls of jasmine rice. I even added some spinach for a bit of color.
I grabbed my fork, took a bite, and said a silent “thank you” to both Lawson and Swift. It was indeed delicious. There were so many flavors at work, and they all seemed to complement each other. The sauce was rich and luxurious thanks to the blend of warm spices paired with both cream and yogurt.
Reviews of the dish on Lawson’s recipe page agree, as well: “Fabulous recipe, we really loved this. I will now be making it on a regular basis, just need to remember to make it a couple of days ahead of when we want to eat it,” one noted. Another exclaimed, “Brilliant! Just love the flavour. Lots of ingredients, but so well worth it.”
It was fantastic, indeed, though like Swift, I think I’ll reserve the somewhat complicated dish for special occasions—perhaps the listening party for her upcoming album, “The Life of a Showgirl.”
