Chicken Curry

I was bored of the usual chicken curry or pepper chicken and I was really finding it difficult to get the right gravy consistency without using besan or cornflour (much to my husband's chagrin; he feels gravy thickened in this manner tastes and looks like chinese gravy) even though the taste always turned out right. So I decided to tweak my usual recipe a little and made a green curry this time. Thanks to Marias chicken recipes for the cashew paste idea; I was sure my husband would have no objections to thickening the gravy with this method.

Ingredients:

1. Chicken - 350 grams (cleaned and skinned)

2. Onions - 2 (medium sized)

3. Tomatoes - 2 (finely chopped)

4. Chilli powder - 1 tsp

    Dhaniya (coriander powder) - 1tsp

   Salt - 1 tsp

   Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

   Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

   Saunf powder (fennel) - 1/4 tsp

   Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp

   Ginger paste - 1/2 tbsp

   Garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp

   Curry leaves - 15 to 20

   Mint leaves - 15 to 20

   Coriander stalk - 3 to 5

5. Oil - 1 tbsp

6. Coriander leaves for garnishing

7. Cashew paste.

Method:

Grind the ingredients in No. 4 together. I always keep powdered ingredients (cumin, pepper, chilli, coriander seeds) but you can use 1 tsp of the seeds to get 1/2 tsp of the powder approximately.

I also always use ginger and garlic paste. Very often the stalks of the coriander leaves turn out to be too thick for garnishing. In such cases, I use the leaves and save the stalks to grind with masala gravy.

Slice the onions fine. Heat the oil and fry the chopped onions until they are golden brown; add the masala paste and fry until the raw smell is gone and there is good aroma. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the chicken pieces and ensure that the pieces are covered well with the masala.

Add a cup of water and boil the chicken until soft.

Add the cashew paste and boil for just half a minute. The gravy thickens as it cools and so you can turn off the heat even with the gravy is a little thinner than desired. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Chapati or Rice.

Verdict: Well, the chicken gravy was not too spicy and brought out the flavour of the chicken pieces very well. We thoroughly enjoyed it with both Rotis and Rice.

If you wish, you could step up the chilli and pepper quantity to make it more spicy.