Sid's Chicken Curry

99% of what I see is forgotten. 99% of what I think remains locked inside me. 99% of my words are lost within a short while of them being spoken. "Silence is Golden" but there may be a few of those words that are worth sharing. Recipes jotted down but incomplete; they could just be useful to someone. A thought - a trigger - a reminder. So I'm going to post them here. Hey - I might look back and they might be useful to me at some time!

There is something very special about this dish, I ate it almost 4 days a week around 2007-2008. I was on a strict diet plan, one that I made for myself. And I made it a point that there was as less fat as possible, and I get enough proteins and vitamins. It was a plan to lose weight and still get a diet which I can burn during my morning run and evening gym session.

This was the time I did not know how to cook chicken and slowly started working out on the recipe, improving it and adding removing bits I did not like. It is like many other recipes but one which was my own innovation. I did things I liked and it was an absolute hit.

Ingredients

Chicken Breast - 1 kg (or a full chicken)
Onion - 1/2 kg
Garlic (grated) - 5 cloves
Ginger (grated) - about 2 tablespoons
Curd - 400 gram
Salt to taste
Olive Oil - 5 tablespoons (or sunflower / vegetable oil)

Whole Spices
Bay Leaf (tez patta) - 2
Cinnamon (dalchini) -1 stick
Green Cardamom (chotti elaychi) - 4
Black Cardmom (badi elaychi) - 3
Cloves (laung) -4
Black Peeper (kali mirch) - 6
Nutmeg (Jaiphal) - about 3 pinch
Mace (Javitri) - 2 strands

Ground Spices
Red Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder - 2 teaspoon
Garam Masala - 2/3 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Recipe

1. Heat olive oil in a non-stick pot (remember you cannot overheat olive oil)
2. Add whole spices
3. Add chicken, ginger and garlic, salt and fry it, keep turning till all sides get white
4. Remove chicken and keep in a bowl
5. Remove spices from oil and keep in a separate bowl
6. Add ground spices to chicken, add curd, leave it to marinate for about an hour or more
7. Heat oil and fry the onions add the whole spices (which we had removed before from oil), add oil if there is not enough oil in the pot.
8. Add marinated chicken to the pot
9. Cover the pot and cook it on medium heat until the chicken is done (usually 15-20 minutes)

PS: For variations, replace curd with tomato puree / sarso ka saag/spinach etc. 

Also, at times I had use Shana masala instead of ground spices. 

Add 2-3 green chilies if you like them (reduce the quantity of red chili and garam masala if doing so).

Garnish with green coriander.