Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Easy Peasy Chicken Curry

This is super simple. Couple of things before we get into the recipe. I have never cooked chicken in a pressure cooker. Always cooked directly in a vessel and some times it would come out soft and some times hard. I tried not salting the meat till end and all but nothing would work. Then I discovered the wonders of pressure cooker. Costco carries a decent one for $40 bucks. The one I have is a pressure pan I got from India. It's a tad bit wider and doesn't need any inserts.

I use breast meat and that I let it cook for 2 whistles but this time Prabu got thigh meat which is tad bit dark and a teeny bit tough so cooked it for 3 whistles.

Ingredients:



Chicken - 2 lbs cut into bite sized pieces
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp.
Lemon juice - 1 tsp.

Marinate the above for an hour.

Onion - 1 chopped fine
Coriander leaves - 3 Tbsp minced
Mint leaves - 2 Tbsp.
Green Chillies - 2 slit length wise
Ginger and garlic paste - 1 tsp.
Coconut milk - 5.5 OZ can ( if you get the big 8 oz one, just use half)
Salt - to taste
Chilli powder - 1 tsp.
Turmeric - pinch
Oil - as needed

To be ground to fine powder:
Cloves - 8
Cinnamon - 2 inch stick
Cardamom - 4

Procedure:

- Heat oil in the pressure pan. Add coriander, mint leaves and green chillies. Stir for 20 seconds.
- Add onions. Season with salt and saute till soft.
- Add ginger and garlic paste, turmeric, chilli powder and half the cloves, cinnamon and cardamom powder.
- Cook for one minute.
- Add the chicken pieces and mix till all the masala is blended well with the chicken.
- Cover and cook on medium to medium low flame for 2 to 3 minutes checking to make sure nothing sticks at the bottom of the pan.
- Add coconut milk , mix and cover with the pressure pan lid tightly.
- Once you see steam coming out, put the weight( it's also called whistle) and sit and have coffee while it gives out 3 whistles. Turn the stove off after 3rd whistle.
- Let the pressure release by itself, don't force it out. Takes about 5 to 8 minutes.
- Now, turn the heat back on and cook for 2 minutes. Add the remaining cinnamon, clove powder. Mix well and check for consistency. It should be a little thick gravyish.

Turn off and serve with peas pulao:)

4 comments:

Finla said...

Easy dishes are always welcome

Rina said...

I go with Happy Suji. Easy recipe always wanted. I'll bookmark this. Thanx for sharing. Hope your little one is doing good.

Sagari said...

nice and yummy recipe

Rachel said...

That looks like an easy version..and chicken too..thanks.