Chicken Ularthu/fry - mommy style

My mom's a good cook. She can easily cook her way to success when she has guests around and is quite innovative with new recipes and the like. But just like me, cooking is not her favourite past time. Both of us do it, cos we have to do it and not because we love it. She, being in India has a good amount of help in the kitchen and supervision is all that is required. I, in another continent altogether, has no help (other than Ro of course..who is more like a pain in the ass if we are both cooking together) and has no choice but to whip up dishes on my own to survive.

One preparation that i am particularly fond of hers is the Chicken ularthu which is in fact the first ever dish i made back in Chennai, once when Asha beevi was on a sabbatical for a week and we had used up all the cooked/frozen food in the fridge. After we made this for the first time i was secretly relieved that i would never have to touch raw chicken again. Little did i know that a few months after i would be slaving (ok, im exaggerating a bit here..but I'm a drama queen, so a little of that wouldn't hurt) away in the kitchen in cold, windy, raining UK!

This chicken recipe has come in handy quite a number of times and is incredibly tasty, of course much tastier when you don't have to make it and then wash and clean up afterwards.

Chicken- 1/2 kg, cut relatively small

Small onions/shallots- 1/2 cup

Tomato- 1 (optional)

Ginger garlic paste- 2 tsp

Chilli pwd- 1 tsp (or according to your taste)

Turmeric pwd- 1/4 tsp

Coriander pwd- 1 tbs

Pepper pwd- 1/2 tsp

Garam masala- 1/2 tsp

Green chilli- 1, slit lengthwise

Curry leaves- a sprig

Oil- 3 tbs

Salt- To taste

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat 2 tbs oil and sautee small onions, green chilli and Ggp till nice and soft. To this add the tomatoes and all the powders including salt and cook well on low heat till oil starts separating. Add the cleaned chicken pieces and mix well. Make sure the pieces are well coated with the masala and do not add any water. Keep cooking on low heat and when the gravy reduces in volume to about 1/4th, take off the flame. At this stage you can also cool and freeze this in a zip lock bag and as and when required, you can do the next stage.

Pour the remaining oil in the frying pan, throw in some curry leaves and on low fire, fry till the chicken pieces become dark. You can also add some chopped big onions to enhance the taste.

Notes: You can actually omit the small onions bit in the beginning and straight away cook the chicken with all the powders on low heat and then at the frying stage add the onions.

The whole cooking should be done on low heat.