Curry Wise, Kitchen Foolish!: Chicken Curry in a Hurry

One of my main aversions for cooking was the time it takes to cook a meal. Growing up it seemed my mom spent her whole day in the kitchen. She was always dashing in and out of the kitchen, and I remember thinking how laborious it must be and I decided this is something I want to avoid, I had better things to with my time. But it turns out she likes to cook in stages. First she will make rice, then couple of hours later she would make the curry, and then maybe take another break, and finally go back in to make something else.

To get into the momentum for my first dish, I wanted to cook something simple, fuss free, and quick. A week earlier I had checked out from my local library Hari Nayak's My Indian Kitchen, and as I was browsing through the book, I came across the recipe "Chicken curry in a hurry", a perfect title and my first dish!

I must say, for my first dish it turned out pretty well. It didn't require any "techniques", and it was was simple enough to make. 

I served the curry with rice but I think it would have been better served with naan (Indian flat bread).

Prep time: 10 minutes (if you know your way around the kitchen it will be considerably less)

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

600g skinless chicken thighs (you can use chicken breasts as well)

1 large onion

1 green chili pepper (or to taste)

¼ tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp garam masala

1 ½ tsp garlic-ginger paste (or use fresh ginger and garlic)
2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp salt (or to taste)

4 tbsp oil
(?) water

Chopped cilantro for garnish

Method:

Peel, then coarsely chop the onion and place it in a blender. Add green chili pepper, turmeric, cumin seeds, ginger-garlic paste, and process. Add a tiny bit of water to make into a smooth paste.

Heat the oil in a sauce pan over high heat. Add the chicken, and salt; stir frequently until the chicken is golden brown (approx 10 minutes). Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside.

Now, over  low heat, add the spice paste to the pan used to cook the chicken. Cook it for about 2-3 minutes (until it becomes fragrant). Then add the chicken, tomato paste, and the garam masala. Gently stir for about another 4 minutes.

Add 1/2 a cup of water, increase the heat to medium, and cover the pan. Mr. Nayak's recipe says to simmer for about 15 minutes, but I had to let it simmer close to 30 minutes until my chicken was thoroughly cooked.

Garnish with cilantro.