Simple Chicken Curry

Simple Chicken Curry 

I firmly believe there are certain places, books, pages of books, musical pieces which remind you of a particular person and when it comes to certain dishes it not only reminds you but it makes you want to be near the person.

This recipe is one of the simplest recipes that there ever can be and it sure does make me miss someone. This is for the one who loves his ghee , understands the importance of marination, can cook effortlessly without consulting any cook books yet his greatest teaching for me would be independence which is why I have followed my Baba (father's) recipe and have merged it with my own ideas. He is the one who unconsciously inspired me to become passionate about peeling, chopping, shredding, sauteing etc

The one thing I have to say is that this dish should either be prepared in mustard oil or in ghee otherwise the flavour doesn't come out that well.

Serves 2 to 3

450 gm chicken (legs and thigh)
1 tbsp smooth garlic paste
1/2 tsp whole black pepper
Paste made from 4 dried red chili and 1 tsp roughly chopped ginger and 1 tbsp vinegar


1 medium sized onion
1 medium sized tomato
1/2 cup whisked yogurt
1/4th cup water
Salt as per taste

2 green cardamom
1 black cardamom
Cinnamon (3/4th of your little finger)
2 blades of mace
2 cloves

1.5 tsp ghee / mustard oil

1 tbsp freshly minced coriander leaves for garnishing

Make a smooth paste of the black pepper, ginger, dried red chili and vinegar and then mix it with the garlic paste and marinate your chicken for about an hour. Meanwhile give a light pounding to the dry spices (green cardamom, black cardamom, cinnamon . mace and clove)

Now heat the ghee or mustard oil and add the chicken and seal its juices by cooking it on high flame for 2 minutes and then add the onion paste and tomato paste and keep stirring it well coating the chicken and then cover and cook on medium flame for a minute and add salt and the spices which you have pounded. Mix well and add the whisked curd and then add the water and bring to a boil stirring continuously (else the yogurt will split) and simmer covered for 5 minutes till the curry seems thick and coats the chicken . Garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy this hot ,fiery and lip-smacking dish with hot steaming rice or soft hot fluffy chapatis .

Tips

1. The breast and things and legs of a chicken need a different time for cooking which is why we often end up cooking an entire chicken and some pieces of the curry come out soft and succulent while some other pieces come out a bit stringy which is why only thighs and legs have been used. You can reserve the breast for later usage. 
2. Before you add the water to the curry add it to the bowl in which you have marinated the chicken and give it a good stir then add this water from the bowl to the bowl in which you have whisked the yogurt stir and then add to the pot. This way you do not waste any flavours. 
3. Always make sure that you whisk your curd before adding it to the pot else it will curdle.