MRS. CHITTALURU'S FAMILY (AUTHENTIC INDIAN) CHICKEN CURRY RECIPE

Steps:

• Ginger/Garlic Paste: In a blender add peeled ginger and peeled garlic in equal parts and a little water and blend into a paste. You can also buy this in the Indian market, but it is much better when made fresh.
• Meat Prep: Cut chicken into bite sized pieces.
• In a bowl, mix chicken, salt, pepper, turmeric, cayenne (if using cayenne), cumin powder and coriander powder.
• Set Aside.
• Cooking: Use medium heat! Lower heat and longer cooking time gives the best results.
• In a deep wide pan (using medium heat) heat oil till it's hot and add Cloves, Cardamom (give a small smack on each Cardamom pod to open up the pod just a little bit) and Cinnamon stick.
• Move it it around for several minutes.
• At this point, I remove the clove and cardamom because I hate biting into them later.
• Add onions and saute until they are soft and golden.
• Take your time on this as this is what makes the gravy creamy, (you don't want burned onions).
• Add Ginger/Garlic paste and lower the heat to medium low and cook for several minutes scraping the bottom often.
• If you have enough oil in the pan you will not have that much of a problem. Hey! it's Indian food, so oil is necessary evil :)
• Add chicken mix from the bowl and cook till the chicken turns color.
• Add butter if desired.
• Keep stirring so that bottom is not sticking. This will take about 8-10 minutes or so.
• Add tomato and cook for another 2 minutes
• Then add hot water to the pan till it barely covers the chicken.
• Cook on medium high till you see a lot of bubbling.
• Lower the heat to medium/low and cover the pan and let it cook for about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• When done, you should have smooth dark brownish gravy that is not runny and the chicken should be tender. Eat it with hot rice.