Chicken Curry

Chicken curry can be prepared in numerous ways. This is traditional chicken curry prepared by my Mom, and it is one of my all time favorite. We usually relish this with dosa, idli or rice.

Ingredients:

Chicken - Around 600 gms
1/2 portion of large onion  finely chopped
1/2 portion of small tomato finely chopped
Cashew nuts - 12
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil / Ghee - 1 tbsp

For Green Masala:

Coriander leaves - 12  ( along with stem)
Green chillies - 3
Garlic cloves - 2
Ginger - A small piece
Cinnamon - small piece
Clove - 2
Cardamom  - 1
Cumin seeds - 0.5 tsp
Saunf - 0.25 tsp
Poppy seeds - 0.5 tsp
White sesame seeds - 0.5 tsp

For Coconut Masala:

Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Red Chillies - 2
Tamarind - A small piece
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
1/2 portion of large onion  finely chopped

Procedure:

1. Clean and wash the chicken thoroughly and marinate it with little turmeric and salt for 15 minutes.

2. Soak the cashew nuts in warm water for 1 hr. Then grind it to a smooth paste and keep aside.

3. Grind all the ingredients mentioned under green masala to a smooth paste.

4. For preparing coconut masala paste heat oil in a pan and add coriander seeds. Fry it for few seconds and then add dry red chillies. Now add chopped onion and fry till it become slightly brown. Then add grated coconut and fry it well till it turns slightly brown ( I have used desiccated coconut as i didn't have stock of grated coconut ). Make sure not to burn the spices. Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool.

Now grind all these fried ingredients and tamarind to a smooth paste by adding little water.

5. Now heat oil/ghee in a pressure cooker and fry the finely chopped onion till it turns golden brown. Now add the tomato and saute for few more minutes. Add little salt to fasten the process of cooking onions.

6. Add the green masala to fried onion-tomato mixture. Saute for few minutes till the raw smell of green masala goes off. Now add the marinated chicken and required amount of salt to this and mix well.Cook the chicken up to 2 whistles in the pressure cooker or till the chicken is completely cooked. If required add little water before pressure cooking the chicken.

7. Now add the ground coconut paste to the cooked chicken and bring the mixture to boil. Let the curry boil for few minutes till the raw smell of the coconut paste goes off.

8. Finally add the cashew paste to the curry and simmer for few minutes. Adjust the salt and consistency of the gravy as required.

Chicken curry is now ready to serve. Happy eating :)