Sharu's Fundas: Kadhai Chicken

I was wondering what to make of the chicken I bought from the market. I wanted to have something spicy. But not the usual chicken gravy, something different. After lots of discussion with my hubby, finally decided kadhai chicken & homemade Garlic naan. I will post the recipe for garlic naan soon. Till then enjoy this kadhai chicken recipe.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

Whole spices - 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 2 cloves, 5 black peppercons, 2 cardamom pods

2 green chillies slit

2 onions

1 tomato

1/2 capsicum

300 gms chicken breasts

ginger garlic paste

Red chilli powder

Lemon juice

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves

Method:

Wash the chicken breasts properly & cut them into bite size pieces. Marinate the chicken pieces with 1 tsp red chilli powder, salt to taste, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste & 1 tsp lemon juice. Mix it properly so that all the masala is applied to the chicken pieces.

Dice the capsicum & 1 onion into bite size cubes.

Chop the other onion & tomato roughly.

Heat a pan. Add all the whole spices. Dry roast them on low-medium heat for 2 minutes until you have a lovely aroma of the spices. Now remove them from heat. Let them cool. Grind them coarsely & set aside.

In the same pan add a tbsp of oil. Add the diced capsicum. Cook for 2 minutes. Later add the diced onions. Cook for 40 seconds or so. Don't let these onions & capsicum cook fully. You want to have a bite in these onion & capsicum pieces. Remove these onion-capsicum pieces in a plate. Keep aside.

There will be some oil in the pan. Add to it some more oil (1 tsp) if necessary. Heat it. Add chopped onions. Once they turn translucent add chopped tomatoes. Add 1 tsp red chili powder. Cook till tomatoes become soft. Grind this mixture to a smooth puree.

In the same pan, heat 1 tsp oil. Add 1 tsp ginger garlic paste. Sauté for 40 seconds or so. Add the ground onion tomato paste & also the ground spice powder. Cook for 4-5 minutes until oil separates. Add water if needed but not much since kadhai chicken gravy is thick & not watery. Keep stirring in between to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Now add the marinated chicken pieces, slit green chilies & some salt (careful - you have already added salt to the chicken while marinating) to this gravy. Cook with a lid on until the chicken is cooked properly. It will take some 10 minutes or so.