Chicken Curry for the busy soul

We often refer to this simple chicken curry as "Chicken Curry for the busy soul" . Why? On one of those busy weekdays if we crave for a rich chicken curry and really don’t have the time and the strength to cook it the traditional way, this simple recipe comes as our saviour. The curry not only looks rich but also tastes rich. When I mean rich- I mean the red vibrant color of the curry with a thin oil film on the sides. We call it “kut”
in Marathi.
The best thing is you don’t need tons of oil to get the “kut”. I learnt this trick from Aae (my mother) when she was visiting us in the Unitesd States last year. Aae uses “Byadgi” chilli powder and adds the chilli powder to the oil before the masala paste is added to red the rich red color. Making the Byadi chilli powder from scratch is one laborious process. Aae goes to the special saturday markets to pick the fine red chillies. The chillies have to dry and crisp. Then she cleans them, removes the stalk and roasts the chillies for atleast half an hour.The whole house smells of chillies and sometimes induces funny sneezing. Later the roasted chillies are sent to the special grinding houses called "girnis". Then Aae makes her special masala which she mixes with the Byagi chilli powder and the result is what we called "Lal Tikhat" in marathi. No store bought chilli powder can match my Aae's home made chilli powder. I don't know the exact proportion of the masalas she uses to make the "Tikhat". I'll  get the recipe from her and post it soon. Aae makes sure I have a supply of this wonderful chilli powder. When I was in India in June 09 she gave me a big packet which I think will last for a year. Thank you Aae.

Ingredients:
1 pound lean chicken with bones, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
2 tsp Everest meat masala or any Garam masala

To marinate:
3 tbsp yoghurt
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
For the masala paste:
3/4 cup coarsely chopped onion
½ cup coarsely chopped tomatoes
3 cloves
3 peppercorns
1 inch cinnamon stick

For Tadka:
1/4 cup coarsely chopped onion
½ tbsp finely chopped ginger
½ tbsp finely chopped garlic
2 tsp red chili powder
1 bay leaf

Method:
1. Trim all visible fat on the chicken and wash it well

2. Place the chicken in a mixing bowl and add the ingredients from the “To Marinate” list. Let the chicken marinate for about 15 minutes. Set aside.

3. To make the masala paste:

a. Heat ½ tbsp oil in a sauce pan and sauté onions till it becomes light brown in color. Now add cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon stick. Sauté till fragrant.

b. Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook for about 3 minutes.

c. Transfer this mixture to a food processor and make a fine paste.

4. To the same sauce pan add the remaining (1/2 tbsp) oil. Add the remaining (1/4 cup onion). When translucent add the ginger garlic. Sauté for a minute. Add the red chilli powder. Add the bay leaf.

5. Add the marinated chicken to the sauce pan and stir well. Let the chicken cook for about 2 minutes. Add the meat/garam masala. Add salt to taste. You can either cook the chicken in the sauce pan or move the contents to the pressure cooker and cook till 3 whistles. I liking cooking meat in the pressure cooker. I think the flavors blend well with the meat when pressure cooked.

The curry goes well with rice or rotis. We ate ours with brown rice. Yep! It tasted good with the brown rice as well. Like I have said before healthy food doesn’t have to be boring. We have figured out a way to make the Brown Rice tasty. The fiber in the Brown Rice means less carbs for me. Yippie!

I am sending the chicken curry as my entry to the "Think Spice - Think Red Chillies" event.

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