Hello everybody.
No escape from cooking today I guess,though I was confused what to do after grocery shopping,I bought many vegetables and stuff so I have many options.
After family discussions I decided to do this recipe sent to me by my friend’s niece Hanin whom I saw the other day and everybody in her family recommended it, so chicken masala it is,since I have all ingredients which is the most important thing,sometimes I do cancel the whole dish cause one ingredient is missing,don’t you?
This is an Indian recipe of course,most Indian food is usually hot and spicy,well today I made it medium so that all can eat with comfort,it turned out very delicious and easy.
Ingredients and method:
* 2 large chicken breasts ( original recipe says thighs but nobody in my family loves them,but breasts were good also),cut to big chunks.
* marinate for chicken:
* 1 cup yogurt.
* ginger garlic paste ( 1 tablespoon fresh ginger with 3 cloves garlic pressed or finely chopped together)
* 1 tsp salt.
* 1/2 tsp pepper.
* marinate chicken for at least 30 minutes or overnight if you can.
*Sauce:
* 2 tablespoons olive oil.
* 2 tablespoons butter.
*1/3 cup ginger garlic paste.
* 2 hot peppers (didn’t have any so I used hot dried chili )
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste.
* 1 tablespoons gram masala spices ( Indian spices bought ready or homemade by mixing special spices including : 2 tablespoons cumin seeds,2 tablespoons coriander seeds,1 tsp pepper seeds,2 tsp cardamon seeds,1 tsp cloves,1 tsp fennel seeds,1 cinnamon stick,3 bay leaves,1/2 tsp fenugreek (حلبه) ,pinch of nutmeg. you roast all seeds except nutmeg very well then grind then to fine powder and add nutmeg)
* 2 tsp paprika.
* 8 small tomatoes or canned diced tomatoes.
* 1 1/2 tsp salt.
* 1-2 cups water.
* 1/2 cup heavy cream.
* minced fresh cilantro for garnish.
* cooked rice or naan bread for serving.
* making sauce and cooking:
* heat oil and butter then add ginger garlic paste and stir,then add hot peppers.
* add tomato paste and cook till brownish then add masala,paprika and saute for 3 minutes.
* add tomatoes,saltand water and simmer till sauce is thickened,you may need more water if it dries.
* meanwhile grill the chicken in some hot oil,try to shake excess marinate .
* cook till golden on all sides.
* now blend the sauce with hand mixer or blender.
* add chicken pieces to sauce and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.
* add cream and stir then at the end add chopped coriander.
* serve with rice or bread.
Very tasty savory dish,not a piece left ,thank you dear Hanin,now it’s officially Hanin’s Chicken in my cook book 🙂
