Tuesday 2 March 2010

Easy Peacy Chicken Curry

I suck at making Indian food. I have taken this liking towards conti cooking and baking and the sauces and filling options available here make it even better. When it comes to making Indian dishes, I'm a big flop. I cant even make a normal chicken curry taste good, and I have no clue where i go wrong. This is the recipe i stick to when i have a craving for chicken curry. Whatever new recipes i try, it all ends up looking and tasting the same to me. I didn't bother posting this till now, because i keep forgetting what to add or how much to add and end up with pathetic results. The last time i made this curry, it turned out good and i decided i had to note it down somewhere, and hence this post (curry) in a hurry :)

Chicken- 1 kg, with bone (I used thighs)

To marinate:
Kashmiri chilli powder- 3tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Dark Soy Sauce- 1 tbsp
Cumin powder- 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tbsp
Cinnamon- 1, 1" piece
Cloves-5
Cardamom- 4
Coriander leaves- a handful
Ginger garlic paste- 2 tbsp
Pepper powder- 1 tbsp
Salt- to taste

Onions- 1 large, roughly chopped
Tomato- 1, roughly sliced
Curry leaves- a sprig
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Oil- 2 tbsp

Grind all the above mentioned ingredients together and marinate the cleaned chicken pieces for a minimum of 2 hours. Make slashes on the chicken pieces so that the marinade seeps through and the flavours are absorbed.

In a pressure cooker, heat the oil and splutter mustard seeds.
Throw in the curry leaves and onions and sautee till soft.
Add the tomato and sautee well on medium fire till the oil starts separating.
Add the marinated chicken and stir fry on high heat for a couple of minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the left over marinade, if any, mix well and pour about 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook till the third whistle.
Remove from fire and wait for the pressure to release on its own. Open the lid and check salt, spice etc. and add if required. If the gravy is not thick, you can put it back on the hob top and boil till u get a thick gravy. I usually avoid this.
If you need a roast-like prep, in a frying pan heat some more oil and sautee the chicken slices with the gravy till they become semi-gravy like, and coated with the masala.
Serve with rice, roti or even bread.
This is another chicken-roast recipe, a favourite of mine.
Notes: The cooking time was half an hour and i love the pressure cooker for making this easy. You can also do the same in a Kadai, just that cooking time will be more. I'm sure it yields the same result.

6 comments:

Vineetha Sush said...

This looks deliciousssss

Sarah Naveen said...

Nice click and chicken curry looks so hot and spicy..yummy yummy

Tina said...

Looks yummy and delicious...

Cool Lassi(e) said...

Hello,
First time here. Love your spot. Love your quirky writing and love this chicken curry. Besides that I was checking the "7 things about urself" and was surprised to see how many things we have in common -- Lazy bum, movie-buff, addicted to shopping, terrified of ghosts but love to watch horror movies anyway, liberal outlook and all that.I have a fear of billowing curtains and ceilings fans..what do u say abt that? :)

Gargi said...

Hi Nisha! I tried this dish and it turned out pretty well, in spite the fact that I forgot to add soy sauce. It was really easy to make.

Rose /Magpie said...

This looks yum Nisha! I love pressure cooker recipes and anything quick and easy! my fav thing to make almost every week ( just because I am lazy) is a pressure cooker chicken curry in a "hurry" too, but I am glad this one is different ( that one has coconut milk) so that now I have a new option to try real soon :)