South Asian Chicken Curry

Believe it or not, the word “curry” simply means sauce. There is no one particular spice that defines curry; however most often it is made with some sort of tomato based sauce, and with spices such as coriander, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, chili powder, and many others. Curry powder may also be used, although it’s not an essential ingredient. I prepared this South Asian chicken curry with bone-in chicken thighs. I think bones give the chicken more flavor. When I make curries, I usually prefer to use dark meat, since it doesn’t cook as fast as white meat and won’t come out as dry. Feel free to use boneless chicken, but I do suggest sticking with dark meat. There are tons of variations of chicken curry recipes, depending on the regions. I consider this particular recipe very balanced, not too bland and not too overpowering either. Enjoy!

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lbs) of bone-in chicken thighs (skin removed)

• 1 large onion (about 250 grams), finely chopped

• 2 medium sized tomatoes (chopped)

• 1 tablespoon of ginger-garlic paste (just mince equal parts of ginger and garlic together)

• 2 teaspoons of garam masala

• 1 teaspoon of each: paprika, cumin seeds, curry powder, red chili powder

• 1/3 teaspoon of turmeric powder

• 2-3 of green cardamon pods

• 2-3 bay leaves

• some boiled water

• 1 tablespoon of chopped green chili

• about 1/3 cup of vegetable oil

• some salt and black pepper (to taste)

• 1 teaspoon of tomato paste

• some chopped parsley for garnish

Instructions

1. Heat up the oil in the pan. When the oil becomes hot, immediately add cumin seeds, bay leaves and cardamon pods. Stir for no more than 30 seconds.

2. Add onions and stir them until they become golden brown. This usually takes about 10 minutes.

3. When the onions turn golden brown, add ginger-garlic paste and stir for about 30 seconds and then add chopped green chilies. Stir for another 30 seconds.

4. After that, add all of the turmeric, curry powder, chili powder, and paprika. Stir for 30 seconds.

5. Now it’s time to add chicken. Add all of it to the bowl and stir. Add some black pepper. Close the lid for 10 minutes and let the chicken cook.

6. After chicken cooks for 10 minutes, add all of the tomatoes, garam masala and some salt (to taste). I recommend to always be conservative with salt; and then at the end, add more if needed.

7. Close the lid and let the chicken simmer for about 15 more minutes. After 15 minutes chicken should be mostly covered with the sauce. If you think the sauce is too thick, then add little water.

8. Taste the sauce and add more salt if needed. If you feel like the curry can take a bit more of acidity, add the tomato paste to it and let it cook for another minute or two.

9. Your curry is now ready! Just add chopped cilantro to it and enjoy it with either rice or naan! Don’t forget to remove cardamon pods and bay leaves.