Chicken Masala

Baked Rava Idly’s turned out soft a lil different from what a cooker Idly tastes… This idly wasn’t hard or soggy neither dry they were close to soft muffins, keep checking a couple of times while you bake these Idly’s if you let them go a lil longer they will come out dry or crispy!!! The Carrots gave a nice creamy yellow color to the Idly's...

I can only think of days when I budged into a hostel, where the cafeteria catered only vegetarian food and by and far Eggs were considered vegetarian, and I was a person who loves Chicken and am more inclined towards Seafood... Usually there was one long weekend permissible in a month, so the urge to get back home was always incremental … When I just enter home I will just walk straight to the dinning table to dig on and that was pretty normal, Oh yeah my Grandma always says that “I behave like a food deprived gal”… The saga continued even when I started working (more than 7 yrs in total), only for a very short period did I getta stay in an apartment of my own, so anytime I getta chance I did sprang up with going out for food which I call Good Food, I almost ate everywhere at Hyderabad and at Chennai… But for once hostels were different for me, Tara Manjunatha Hostel in Bangalore, behind Ramaiah College, oh food was heavenly there…

My Mom is a pure vegetarian, and so are her sisters, she was so naïve that she dint know how chicken leg looks like… So after their wedding, the newly wedded couples were invited over to the Grooms sisters place (My aunt) and theirs is a big place with a lotsa friends and relatives and they had a feast with lotsa people from the village and here the so naïve Bride(she was only 18 then) was served Chicken and she started chewing on the legs and bones not know how to eat them… But she learnt cooking from my Aunt and Grandma, I am clueless how she manages to make finger licking non vegetarian food without tasting or not knowing how they taste with different ingredients…

My Grandma always tells us that while making chicken with just lil ingredients the dish can taste heavenly and she always insisted that we used whole spices and no chilli powder went into her dishes only whole red chillies were used and so I learnt this from her and this was the first dish I ever learned to cook…



Ingredients:

For Cleaning:

Turmeric Powder – 1 tbsp
Water

For Cooking:

Chicken – 1 lb
Onion – 1 large
Tomato – 1 large
Ginger – 2 inches
Garlic – 10 pods
Bay Leaves - 2 nos.
Cinnamon Stick - 1 no. small
Cardamom - 2 nos.
Cloves - 2 nos.
Red Chillies – 7-8 nos.
Cooking Oil – 3-4 tbsps
Mustard Seeds – ¼ tsp
Coriander Seeds – 3 tbsps roasted and ground to a fine powder
Curry Leaves from one or two strands
Salt to taste

For Powder:

Cinnamon Stick - 1 no. large
Cloves - 6-7 nos.
Cardamom - 6-7 nos.

For Garnishing:

Coriander Leaves

Method:

Wash the Chicken over few changes of Water and apply Turmeric and let it stand for 15-20 mins. Meanwhile chop and dice the Onions and Toamtoes. Paste Ginger and Garlic without adding Water, do sprinkle some Water if needed. Roast Coriander Seeds and make a fine powder. Roast Cinnamon, Cloves and Cardamom and grind it to a fine powder.

Heat a wide non stick pan/any wide mouthed vessel add Cooking Oil add the Mustard Seeds and let it splutter now drop the Cinnamon, Cardamom, Clove and Bay Leaves. Throw in the finely chopped Onions, Red Chillies and Curry Leaves, when it changes color add the Ginger-Garlic Paste cover and cook for 3-4 mins until the watery consistency disappears and it thickens.

Now add the diced Tomatoes and cover and cook until the Tomatoes are soft. Then goes the Coriander Powder and the Garam Masala Powder. Cover and wait until Masala splutter out then add Turmeric Powder and Chicken. Cover and cook for 10 mins do not open keep the flames on low - medium. No Water is required, after about 10 mins stir in not letting the Chicken to burn off. Now again cover and cook for another 10 mins or until Chicken is soft. Adjust Salt and garnish with Cilantro now keep the lid open and cook for a few more mins until the gravy thicken and coats the Chicken.

Serve with: Rice, Dosa, Idly or Roti Varities

Chicken Masala goes to

Viki's -- The Potluck - Chicken