Kadhai Chicken

Ingredients

• Chicken (~0.5Kg)
• 2 large red onions
• 3 Tomatoes
• Salt … As needed
• 2-3 bulbs of garlic
• Thumb sized piece of ginger
• 3-4 Chillies (Finger Chillies generally go best if you can handle the heat)
• Cumin … 1 t/spoon
• * Cloves … 5-6
• * Black pepper … Roughly 8-10
• * Cardamom Pods … 4-5
• * Dried Red Chillies … 3-4
• * Curry Leaves … 4-5
• * Cinnamon … 10 cm broken down into small parts
• * Start Anise … Don’t know what you call this in English - 3-4
• Coriander Powder … ½ t/spoon
• Mustard seeds … 1 tablespoon (toasted)
• Red Chilli Powder … As per the palette … ¼ t/spoon
• Turmeric powder … ½ t/spoon
• Garam Masala … 1-2 t/spoon
• Sunflower Oil

Method

• Marinade chicken with garam masala and a small amount of oil to then brown off the chicken
• Slice the onions, dice the tomatoes, ginger, garlic and chillies
• Heat the oil and add cumin (keep the heat medium as it burns rather quick)
• * Add cloves, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, curry leaves, dried chillies, star anise and let brown with the oil. Add few seconds after the Cumin and go to the nest step when the cumin is done
• Once cumin is medium brown (black means start again 😊), add onions and chillies
• Add Ginger and Garlic
• Turn heat lower and let the onion caramelize for a at least 10 minutes and then add tomatoes
• Once the tomatoes have created a paste like texture with the onions, add the spices.
• Salt, Coriander powder, Red Chilli (if needed), Turmeric powder, Garam masala
• Mix well (Top tip: Add a little water before mixing so that the spices mix evenly)
• Add the diced chicken into the gravy, add water (about ½ a glass) and let stay on medium heat (wok covered) for about 15 - 20 minutes
• Keep moving using a cooking spoon every 5 minutes (Don’t let it burn at the bottom)
• Remove the lid for the last 5 minutes of the cooking so that the water can evaporate, stop when you get desired consistency
• Garnish with some coriander leaves and voila… 😉 Enjoy Kadhai Paneer… Preferably with a butter naan…

If you want to add a little more authentic flavours then these are a few items that get added at the start when you add cumin. Each adds a tone into the food but depending on what you have you can play around. You can cook with neither added, all added or some added, play around with it as it would add a different flavour to your dish every time based on what you add.