There are days that are easy, breezy and simple. And there are days that can grate on your nerves that burrowing your head deep into a pillow seems like the only way out. Unfortunately, even that option is but a distant dream when you have to finish gazillion things in the limited span of 24 hours. It’s not every day that I spin through life in a haze. I actually like my little routines of measured slowness. (Now the definition of slow for an Aries can be very different from the rest of the world, but nonetheless!). And there have been more days than I can count on my fingers, that ordering takeaway is the norm. But when everything seems to be spinning out of control, I crave desperately for a home cooked meal. (Mommy…can I come home?). Oh wait, driving there is going to take me a good part of an hour, eating there another, and driving back another hour! I can’t spare three hours in a time strapped continuum.
Famished, cranky and hungry is not the way you should be cooking anything, but if I’m in that zone there’s no better dish to cheer me up than Simple Chicken Curry. This one takes twenty minutes of monitoring and thirty minutes of bubbling away contentedly on the stove by itself. And what’s more, it tastes like a giant hug! (Yes, food can give you a hug…. Never tried it??). I just spoon some onto a heap of fluffy white rice and finish the meal with a massive dollop of yoghurt! Bliss! If not anything else, it gets me through the complicated day being less famished, less cranky and less hungry J
Simple Chicken Curry
Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 40 mins
Serves: 4
What you need:
800 gms skinless Chicken pieces
1 large Onion
2 Med Tomatoes
1 Tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
2 Tbsp Oil
1 pinch granulated Sugar
1 tsp Chili powder
2 Tbsp thick/ Greek Yoghurt
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 handful of fresh Coriander, chopped
Salt to taste
What to do:
Peel and finely chop the onions. Chop the tomatoes. Pour the oil into a large pan set over high heat. When the oil is hot add the sugar, to caramelize and give the curry a rich color. (No, we don’t use food colouring at home… unless you want to stain your fingers!). As the sugar caramelizes toss in the onion and fry until it starts to brown. Next, add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté. Toss in the tomatoes, chili powder and turmeric. Lowerr the heat and fry for atleast 5 minutes till the pungent smell of masala’s mellow and you see the oil separating from the paste. (About 5 mins). If the paste starts sticking to the bottom of the pan, add a Tbsp of water.
Next stir in the chicken pieces. Turn the heat back high and sauté to seal the chicken on all sides, mixing it well with the masala. Now add the yoghurt and sauté well. When the chicken starts to turn white all over, lower the heat to medium, add half a cup of hot water to the pan, cover with a lid and cook for 20 mins.
Remove the lid and cook uncovered for another 7-10 mins to thicken the gravy. Finish by adding garam masala and salt to taste. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with hot white rice and yoghurt.
The FoodPorn Diaries 
Thanks for urging the veggies to try the masala.. I always think I don't offer variations on the dish.. Maybe from next time 🙂
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Just yummy… this is a perfect recipe to prepare when you are almost out of complicated ingredients and want a quick fix food….. however was out of chicken so tried the same with potato…. so for all the vegetarians this recipe taste fantastic even with potato…..
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Thank you guys… and revathi, nice to see you here, its been a while 🙂
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I can so relate to the feeling of rushing through days and resorting to takeaways and when that cycle gets annoying, you just need something comforting and homely to shake you out of the rut and get you back in the zone.. this one sounds so good. I must try it, considering I'm usually spinning around in circles and resorting to takeaways a lot these days 😦
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This looks awesome and yummy
Aarthi
http://www.yummytummyaarthi.com/
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wow ! mouth watering !
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