Cream Kadai Chicken

Anecdote

Sharmita and I are actually quite poles apart. The main difference is that she is slim and trim, ahem, let’s not go that way about yours truly. We almost never agree on movies. We also most often disagree on food as we almost always like different restaurants. We dress quite differently, of course with such different body types, what did I expect?

Having said that we are rather different, we are also pretty similar. Our views about child rearing are almost identical. We are two women who worked together on an equal footing and never fought. We support each other largely, almost often, in our quest for woman power, the battle being drawn against the spouses most often. And most importantly, there have been many moments of shared happy banter in the last 12 years.

Sharmita claims to be a non-cook, well her husband says she never cooks any vegetarian dishes after he has turned vegetarian!. Well, this statement being as unfounded as it sounds, Sharmita is not much of a kitchen person yet loves to throw parties and serve home-made meals. This is one recipe which she had been advocating to me since two years, a specialty of her mother, and I take my hats off to both the ladies, it is an outstanding one!

Stuff that you must have:

Chicken, a kilo, curry pcs

Ginger, 2 inches

Garlic, 8 odd pods

Turmeric powder

Tomatoes, 2 big ones

Pepper powder

Lemon juice, a tsp

Green chillies, 2

Kashmiri chilly powder

Cardamom, 3pods

Onions, 1 big

Garam masala powder

Kasuri methi

Cream, 1 cup

Salt

What to do:

Step 1

Marinate the chicken with 11/2 tsp ginger paste, 11/2 tsp garlic paste, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp pepper powder, 1 tsp lemon juice. Keep aside for 6 hours or overnight.

Step 2

Take 2 tomatoes and cut into big pcs. Chop 1 tsp ginger and garlic respectively and finely. Take the green chillies, cardamom, ½ tsp Kashmiri chilly powder and a cup of water. Cook everything together for 3  to 4 minutes. Grind to a paste. This is your tomato paste.

Step 3

Shallow fry the marinated chicken till it is slightly brown

Step 4

In a warm wok, add oil. Now add 1 tbsp chopped ginger and 1 large chopped onion. Fry till golden brown and soft. Now add 2 tsp Kashmiri chilly powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, ¼ tsp pepper powder, ½ tsp Garam masala powder and ½ tsp Kasuri methi. Fry the masalas for 2 minutes in low flame. Now add the tomato paste from step 2. When it simmers, add the chicken post step 3and cook till the chicken is soft.

Step 5

Pour a cup pf fresh cream and serve garnished with coriander leaves.

How to serve:

A very North Indian or rather Afghani tasting gravy dish, it is best served with Roti or Paratha. Methi infused roti would be really nice. Though we have already used methi in the gravy, the fragrance is subtle.

Trivia:

Use of cream in Indian curries, especially in meat dishes dates back to Moghul era. This in turn was largely influenced by Afghani and Middle eastern cuisines.