Chicken Curry

This is the simplest, tastiest and most cooked chicken curry (aka murghi ka salan) made in almost every Pakistani kitchen. My mom used to make the yummiest chicken curry, she always added fenugreek leaves in and that changed the taste of chicken curry instantly…

Ingredients:

½ kg chicken pieces

2 medium onions, finely sliced

2-3 medium tomatoes (chopped)

1/2 cup yoghurt, fresh and whipped

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

½ tsp dried fenugreek leaves  (qasori methi) 

1 tsp red chili powder (you can use more or less according to your taste)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 black cardamom pod

2-3 green cardamoms

3-4 cloves

6-7 black pepper corns

¼ tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp garam masala

1 piece of cinnamon

¼ cup oil

Salt to taste (I use a little more then a tsp)

Chopped fresh coriander for garnishing

Method:

Heat the oil in a pan and fry onions on medium flame till they turn golden brown. Remove them from oil and drain on paper, next add the chopped tomatoes and fried onions  in to a blender and blend well till you get a smooth paste Reheat the pan and add the ginger garlic paste, followed by the blended tomato and onion paste. Add in salt, cumin seeds, chili powder, turmeric powder, cloves, black cardamom, green cardamoms, black pepper corns and cinnamon stick, fry it well adding a few splashes of water every now and then until the oil is released from the sides. Add in the chicken pieces and fry well for 5-6 minutes on medium high heat, next add the whipped yogurt and cook until the gravy gets thick and cooked through.

Next, add 1& 1/2 cup of water, once the water simmers, reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Let it cook on low heat for till the chicken gets done and the gravy reaches your desired consistency, adjust salt, add the fenugreek leaves, coriander powder and garam masala, mix it with a spoon, cover the pan and let it cook for further 3-4 minutes, turn off the heat. Garnish with coriander and serve hot with naans/roti and salad. It also goes well with boiled rice or pulao.