Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Country style Chicken Curry



Hissshhhhh ..... I heard the pressure cooker whistle. I quickly ran to the kitchen. I had seen dad come home with a black plastic bag from the market ....It was Sunday morning and I knew it was chicken. Since morning, I had made a hundred trips to the kitchen to check on it. Other days I won't even buzz by the kitchen. I moved around my mom asking her a thousand questions about how and when the chicken curry would be ready.

I hanged around her till I irritated her .... she shooed me away like a little kitten and asked me to come only when I heard the pressure cooker whistle. So there I was ....

I got myself a small plate and a spoon and waited till I got a small piece of it. Mom opened the cooker .... hot steam gushed out it spreading the aroma of spices and chicken, the curry still boiling. I peeped into the cooker as mom moved the ladle trying to mix the gravy well. 'Can I get that piece to taste', I asked mom pointing at the leg piece. 'No, you will get it with rice during lunch, not now', mom said while she carefully put a small piece with a little gravy on my plate.
I was happy with whatever I got. I carried the plate carefully to my favorite spot. I sat their licking the gravy and waiting for the tiny piece of chicken to cool down.

This chicken curry is my mom's recipe. A simple country style chicken curry without any frills.


Preparation Time - 45 minutes
Serves - 3
Ingredients
Chicken Legs - 6
Chopped Onions - 5 cups (loosely packed)
Garlic Cloves - 5
Ginger - 1 inch
Chopped Tomatoes - 2 cups
Whole Cinnamon - 2 inches
Whole Cardamom - 4
Whole black pepper - 10
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Chicken Masala - 1 tbsp
Salt per taste
Mustard oil for cooking

Method of Preparation
1 Wash the chicken pieces and keep aside. I have used leg pieces but you can use chicken thigh or breasts with bones
2 Finely chop onions. Crush the garlic cloves and ginger using a mortar and pestle. Chop tomatoes
3 Pour about 2 tbsp of mustard oil into the pressure cooker. When warm add all the whole garam masalas (cinnamon + cardamom + black pepper) along with cumin seeds.
4 Now add the chopped onions to it and mix well. Fry the onions till they look translucent. Add the crushed garlic and ginger and mix well.
5 Add a little salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder to it. Mix well and keep stirring till the masala starts getting pulpy.
6 Add the tomatoes now. Mix well and fry till the tomatoes are soft and the masala gets 3/4 th cooked.
7 Now add the chicken legs and stirr to coat them with the masala. Keep stirring else the masala will stick to the bottom of the cooker. Continue to do this till the masala is completely cooked.
8 Mix the Chicken Masala with a little water to make a paste. Pour it on the chicken and mix well. Stir for some more time.
9 Add about 4 cups of water to the masala. Add salt again per taste.
10 Close the lid of the cooker and cook till one whistle.
11 Open the cooker after it cools down. If you want the gravy to be thicker cook for some more time to let the excess water evaporate.
12 Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Serving Tips
Serve warm with Rice or any Indian flat bread.
Variation
You can use vegetable oil or Canola oil instead of Mustard oil for cooking. Use your choice of chicken pieces. You can use any store bought chicken masala powder.
Other Names
Cinnamon - Dalchini, Cardamom - Elaichi, Cummin - Jeera,

Sending this to Divya's 'Show me the Curry'




23 comments:

Elaichii said...

Hi Satrupa,

I liked your intro for this post! eventhough I don't eat chicken, thoroughly enjoyed your write ups!

www.elaichii.blogspot.com

Sulagna said...

Nice story ..Chicken looks delicious !!

Suji said...

Oh My dear, I can picturise myself with you here da..Curry looks scrumptious. Love the color...Yummy yumm

aipi said...

I love your write ups..
Chicken curry looks delicious..Mom's recipes are always the best!!

Harshada said...

Wow, Chicken looks too yummy. Can't wit to try it ! Keep posting delicious recepies.

Hamaree Rasoi said...

I like using the pressure cooker for this simple chicken curry. Tastes best with plain rice; Your's look yummy
deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Unknown said...

Wow nice template and recipe...chicken makes me crave for some now...first time here and am loving it :)

Priya Suresh said...

Woww wat a delicious looking chicken curry, am drooling here..

Sushma Mallya said...

Beautifully presented yummy chicken curry...

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Chicken curry in mustard oil tastes heavenly...
loved the story, felt like mine too...

Anju Rathore said...

I am always a big fan of your non-veg dishes.Your story about the chicken curry is really so sweet and i can recall the similiar kind of scenes from my mom kitchen, the only difference is that i used to wait upon the chicken/mutton gravy's instead of the pieces.I still adore the simple chicken/mutton gravy's with rice.

Urmi said...

Wish you and your family a very Happy Janmashtami.
Chicken curry looks delicious and tempting.

TREAT AND TRICK said...

Very nice color and looks delicious dear..btw just to clarify.. is this correct 6 cups of chopped onion?

Satrupa said...

@ Treat and Trick .... yes 6 cups of onion is correct :) It is infact 6 cups of loosely packed onion. The consistency of the gravy is quite thick. When you pressure cook the curry, the onions melt down into a thick gravy.

Unknown said...

Loved reading your story :)Tempting clicks especially the second one..Simple is always best!!

Satya said...

love the write up ,makes me remember my old days ...in winter only we used get cauliflower ,so when my amma used to make cauliflower masala ,i used be like u dear:)btw chicken curry looks delicious

Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

Ms.Chitchat said...

Loved browsing thro' ur posts. You have a nice space with interesting recipes. Glad to follow u:):)

Chitchat

Satrupa said...

Thanks everyone for stopping by my space and leaving your comments. It means the world to me.

Unknown said...

WoW!! Yummy-yummy,when it will come to my TUMMY??

Unknown said...

This looks really yummy, nice presentation and what a story (childhood days wow).

Parvathi said...

Read this useful article....

jai said...

I was looking for a recipe to make chicken curry using mustard oil and bingo....! Sounds awesome and in about an hour's time I'll be telling everybody it sure tastes awesome too!

Raksha said...

Hey this curry seems to have turned delicious and is simple to cook using pressure cooker. Great one.

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