CHICKEN MASALA

One of the most simple, home style Indian chicken recipe for beginners. This chicken masala goes well with any Indian bread/ steamed rice. Today I served it with “Malvani Kombdi Vade” and it tastes awesome. If you have been to any Indian restaurant or any Indian’s home, you have probably tried some version of this dish. Sometimes simple called Chicken Curry. This dish is basic in it’s use of spices and ingredients to bring out the complex flavours of a curry.  The flavours have more intense as you cook down the onion, ginger and garlic into a deeply flavoured masala paste. As I mentioned above this is a simple curry made in Indian households and is also a common feature on most Indian restaurants. There are a lot of variations of this dish however as people use different ratio of spices. Some love the whole spices and dice the onion and tomatoes to make a rustic sauce. Some leave out tomato. Each region has their own way of making it with locally available taste enhancers like coconut, cashews, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, etc. Here I keep it little bit thick gravy but if you prefer a thin gravy version, add some more water to this chicken and increase the chilli powder and garam masala by ½ teaspoon.  This recipe is very easy and simple and can be prepared with the ingredients available in your pantry. Do try this recipe at home and drop a comment below in the comment box. 

INGREDIENTS:

½ kg Chicken

1 Onion, sliced thinly

1 Tomato, chopped

2 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic Paste

2 teaspoon Turmeric Powder

2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

3 teaspoon Coriander Powder

Salt as needed

4-5 tablespoon Oil

For Onion-coconut Paste:

 1 Onion, chopped

1” Ginger Piece

4-5 Garlic Cloves

¼ Cup Desiccated Coconut

METHOD:

For Onion-coconut paste:

STEP 1 – Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a kadai, add sliced onion and let it sauté until translucent. Then add chopped garlic and ginger and roast for 3-4 minute. Add desiccated coconut and roast for 2-3 minutes. Cool it and make a fine paste with it. I already have onion-coconut paste so I skipped this step.

Cook The Chicken:

STEP 1 – Wash the chicken pieces, add 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon coriander powder and salt. Mix well and coat the chicken pieces with this spice mix. Keep it aside for 5-10 minutes.

STEP 2 – Heat oil in a pan, add ½ sliced onion and roast it well until brown in colour.

STEP 3 – Add marinated chicken pieces and saute well on high flame for 2-3 minutes.

STEP 4 – Lower the flame, cover it and cook for 5-7 minutes.

STEP 5 – Add 1 cup water, mix well and again cover. Cook for another 5-10 minutes or until cooked properly.

STEP 6 – When done, switch off the heat and keep it aside.

How to Proceed:

STEP 1 – Heat oil in a wide pan, add leftover ½ sliced onion and saute well. Add 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste, mix well and cook till the raw smell vanishes.

STEP 2 – Then add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, coriander powder and salt. Be careful while adding salt as we have already added some salt while cooking the chicken.

STEP 3 – Add onion-coconut paste, mix it well and cook for 1-2 minute.

STEP 4 – Then add chopped tomato, cook for 2-3 minutes until tomato turns mushy and oil starts leaving from sides.

STEP 5 – Add cooked chicken in it, give a nice stir. 

STEP 6 - Add more 1 cup water, cover it  and cook for 5-7 minutes. 

Chicken masala is ready to serve.

Serve it hot with any Indian flat bread, onion wedges and lemon and enjoy.