Chicken Chettinad

Ingredients

1lb Chicken
1 medium Onion
1 large tomato
1 tsp red chilli pwd (adjust per taste)
1 tsp turmeric
4 curry leaves
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp oil
1 cup water(can be substituted with coconut milk)
salt per taste

For Paste

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
3 tbsp coconut powder
2 tsp poppy seeds (soak in warm milk for 10 minutes)
2 green chillies
Grind the above ingredients into fine paste and keep aside.

For Powder

3 whole red chillies
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 inch cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 cardamon
Dry roast the above ingredients in little bit oil and grind into fine powder.

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan, add turmeric, the chopped onions and curry leaves and saute till transparent.
2. Add the paste and saute for 2 minutes. Add the chicken, red chilli powder and salt and let cook on high flame for 5 minutes. Stir the chicken once in a while.
3. Bring down the flame to medium and add the chopped tomatoes. Let it cook for a good 5 minutes stirring once in a while.
4. Add water and lemon juice and let it cook till the gravy is thick. The consistency of the gravy is per you. You can make as thick or as thin as you want. I like my gravy thick :). Check and adjust the seasonings.
5. Add the ground masala powder and let it sit on low flame for 2 minutes. Remove the curry from the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.
You can eat this with roti or pulao or just plain rice. Yum!!!

Variations

You can always add tablespoon of almonds or cashews while making the ground paste.