?s re ground almonds in Nigell'a Mughlai Chicken

[foxy fairy]

1. I am going to try Nigella's Mughlai chicken, which calls for "ground almonds." Ground almonds -- would that be the same as almond flour? I'm guessing that I can find it at Whole Foods or (better) the Indian grocery. Checking in advance, though.

2. Anyone made this dish?? Any suggested tweaks?

[foxy fairy]

I bought a package of blanched sliced almonds, a small tub at Whole Foods. I measured out 4 Tbsp and blended (careful not to overdo it and end up with butter) in my mini-processor. Perfect, because the recipe also calls for a bunch of sliced almonds as the crowing touch. I made the curry tonight -- and even though I'm waiting to "officially" indulge tomorrow night with friends, letting it steep overnight per Nigella's urging -- I just couldn't stop myself from slurping down a little bowl tonight. YUM. Wow! I've made fantastic eggplant curry before, restaurant-quality, and this is my first time with a meat curry. I am so excited for tomorrow night's dinner :) :) thanks for the input, everybody!

[ceekskat]

Glad it worked out & thanks for reporting back.

[greygarious]

You can buy almond meal at Trader Joe's - with the baking supplies, not in the nut section. It is finely ground, AKA almond flour. If you make your own, you need ot be very careful since you can easily wind up with nut butter. I swap in almond meal for a third of the flour in typical quickbread or muffin batters. It doesn't have much almond taste, though. I suspect that your ground almond ingredient might be slightly coarser - like uncooked bulgur or couscous.

[weem]

I remember making a cookie that called for ground hazelnuts, which I did in the mini-processor. The recipe instructed me to include a portion of the (I believe) brown sugar while grinding. I wasn't sure why, and friends later told me it was to keep the nuts from turning into butter. I'm not sure if such a tip could in any way help with this recipe, since I doubt it includes brown sugar, but I thought I'd toss it out there. There might be some other ingredient that would serve the same function.

[NYCkaren]

I've made that recipe and I loved it. I'm sure I didn't use almond flour, which I've used for baking. I don't have the recipe in front of me but I'm pretty sure the nuts were just chopped.

[oakjoan]

I think it's called "almond meal" at the market where I buy it. It has a grainy texture. I agree with the others above who suggest giving it a whirl in the processor or blender.

[stellamystar]

I know some Indian dishes use almond butter (or cashew butter) as a thickener for the sauce...?

[foxy fairy]

great. awesome. thank you :) Pulling my mini-prep out now.

[ceekskat]

I've never heard of almond flour, only almond powder with saffron or some other flavoring used to mix with milk (like ovaltine or horlicks). Ground almonds in an Indian recipe means literally ground almonds as greedygirl described. You can buy the almonds in an Indian store & use a spice grinder at home.

[LulusMom]

I haven't made this dish, but I have made things with ground almonds, and they aren't the same as almond flour. The consistency of the ground nuts is usually really nice. Just zap them in your mini-prep or similar - very easy.

[greedygirl]

Ground almonds are, er, blanched almonds that have been ground! Never heard of almond flour - not sure if it's the same thing.