Marinated Chicken Curry

 

Judging a person, we all know, is a trait we should not have.  Forget judging – we even misjudge.  I am guilty of this even though I know that it should not be done.  Unintentionally I form opinions of persons only after meeting them for a few minutes – boring, smart, introvert, flirty – my list can go on.   And more often than not, I have been proven wrong.  It is something I am fully aware I should not be doing, and am working on it, but something I keep repeating…bad girl!

I have been having minimal interactions at work with a certain person whom I had branded “weird, boring and an introvert” whom I was sure I did nothing in common with.  And then fate put us both in a car – alone – on a three hour journey.  Oh how wrong could I be!  Not totally wrong, mind you, he is an introvert.  But he is definitely not weird or boring.  He is a world traveler, has a very good taste in music and a good conversationalist.  Not great, but good.  I realized that he did not speak unless he was asked something, which could have been the reason I found him boring initially.  But when he got talking, he could be so detailed and so vivid in his description that it amazed me.   I would classify the trip I took with him as being anything but boring.

And when I was back in my bed, pondering about my day, the good, the bad and the ugly things I did and said, the people I hurt, the people I made happy and the people I misjudged.  How ashamed I was of myself…and I made myself a promise to make another attempt to stop judging people.  I am sure you would know how unsuccessful I have been about this.

Preparation Time: 2 hours

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 whole Chicken, skinned and cut into small pieces about 1 1/4"

7 tablespoons  Vegetable oil
 4 Onions, medium, chopped
 4 ½ tablespoons Coriander powder
 1 ½ cup Coconut, grated
 12 Garlic pods, crushed
 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder
 3 teaspoons Red chilli powder
 Handful of Cilantro with stems
 1 Tomato, large, chopped
 1 Lime, juice
 ½ cup Coconut milk, unsweetened

Marination paste:
 1 Garlic, whole
 1” Ginger
 3 Green chilies
 1 cups coriander leaves

Salt to taste

Dry spice powder:
18 Cloves
1 ½ inch cinnamon 

5 Cardamom
1 ½ teaspoon Anise
1 ½ teaspoons Poppy seeds (Khas Khas)
½ nutmeg fresh powdered

3 Star anise

Method: 

1. Grind the marination ingredients to a fine paste. Marinate the chicken with the above paste for about an hour
2. Fry the dry paste in 1 tablespoon oil for a minute and half, except poppy seeds. Make sure none of the spices burn, otherwise they will turn bitter. Grind the dry spices to a fine powder including the poppy seeds.
3. Add 3 tablespoons oil in a medium sized pot and fry half the onions till golden brown. Then add 2 tablespoons coriander powder and fry for another minute. Remove from heat and set aside
4. In another pan lightly brown 1 ½ cup grated coconut. In a blender incorporate the coconut and onion mix (from 3) with the dry spice powder (from 2) and grind the mix to a very fine paste. Ensure that the coconut is completely ground so it is not gritty between fingers
5. To the pot (from 3), add 2 ½ tablespoons oil and fry the remaining onions until golden brown. Add the crushed garlic pods and cook for a minute. To this add turmeric, coriander and chilli powder and mix well
6. Immediately add tomato. Roast till tomatoes are softened
7. Add the cut up chicken pieces with half to one cup water and mix all the above ingredients thoroughly
8. Add ground coconut paste (from 4) along with the lime
9. Stir in the ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk
10. Cover and cook on low to medium heat until chicken is thoroughly cooked about 30 minutes
11. Serve with Indian flatbread and basmati rice