Chicken Fry

Back to chicken after whole week..God!! How did I survive without eating chicken for one full week....

Well the story is I promised my husband that I will only cook vegetarian meals for one week and yes I did kept my promise. And today I made my favorite spicy chicken fry to make it up for whole week.

My version of chicken fry is semi dry so that it goes well with rice too. This looks like a big process but you can do this in a breeze. This recipe of mine is a bg hit with friends. So take my word on this try it out..Good Luck :)

Ingredients

For prepping Chicken
1 1/2 lbs chicken
1/2 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin seeds(Jeera)
1 tsp garam masala

 For curry
1 big onion chopped real fine or made to paste
2 green chillies sliced length wise
1 small tomato pureed(Optional)
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tbsp red chilli powder(per spice level)
1 tbsp dry coconut powder
Salt per taste
1 tsp lemon juice
4 tbsp oil

For Tempering
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 cloves
1/2 inch cinnamon stick
pinch of nutmeg (optional)
1/2 tsp turmeric
For Garnish
Handful of coriander leaves

Method

Chop the chicken to bite size pieces, wash and clean thoroughly. Take the chicken and all the prepping ingredients in a heavy bottomed pan. Turn on the heat to medium and cook the chicken covered with lid. The water from the chicken will help the chicken to cook. If you feel like there is not enough water add in 1/2 cup of water and cook till the chicken is done(If cooking on medium heat, all it takes is 15 to 20 minutes to full cook the chicken). Turn off the heat separate the chicken pieces and gravy. Set the gravy aside.
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan. Fry the chicken pieces in batches to brown the chicken pieces on all sides(This is called shallow fry. You can deep fry the chicken pieces if you wanted to, but I will take the time to shallow fry). Drain the chicken pieces on paper towels and set aside.

In the same pan add another 2 tbsp of of oil, add the tempering and let them splutter. Add the onion paste, little salt and green chillies and fry till the raw smell is gone.
Add in the ginger garlic paste and fry for minute or two. Now add in the tomato paste and the gravy that we had set aside earlier. Fry for 5 to 7 minutes till all the moisture is gone and everything is well incorporated. At this point the curry should look dry without any moisture. Add the dry coconut power, red chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder. Give it a good stir and fry for a minute. Add in the lemon juice and fry for another minute. Check and adjust the seasoning at this point.
Add in the chicken pieces and stir gently to incorporate everything and let the gravy stick to the chicken and the flavors get into chicken pieces little bit. Keep tossing for 4 to 5 minutes.
Sprinkle the garam masala powder, chopped coriander leaves, mix well and turn off the heat.
Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with more coriander leaves.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Note

To check for the doneness of Chicken, take a big piece out and cut it into two halves. If you do not see any pink color,  that means chicken is done. Do not over cook the chicken because if you do so, all the moisture will go away and you will be left with dry chicken pieces.