Indian style Chicken Curry

Ingredients

Marinade

• 2lb (~1kg) skinless, boneless chicken thigh (or chicken breast)
• 2 teaspoons salt (+ more to taste)
• 1 cup greek yogurt (or regular yogurt)

Spice mix

• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 teaspoon kashmiri chili powder (or paprika and adjust heat with cayenne pepper)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick

Rest

• 1 tablespoon ghee/oil
• 1 ½ cups chopped onion (2 medium onions or 1 large)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 thumb of ginger
• ⅓ cup tomato paste (buy the ones in the tube, the canned stuff usually suck) (or 1 cup pureed tomatoes)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• ½ cup water
• 2 teaspoon sugar

Finish

• 1 teaspoon garam masala (roughly)
• 3 tablespoon unsalted butter
• ½ cup Whipping cream
• 1 lemon (optional)
• More cilantro as garnish
• More salt & sugar to taste

Greek yogurt + tomato paste will make the sauce thicker so these are recommended.

Directions

1. Cube chicken breast if using otherwise use the chicken pieces whole. Marinade in yogurt and 2 teaspoons of salt for 2 hours or overnight.
2. Bring the pan to medium-high heat and add oil (or ghee). Add onion, garlic, ginger and a pinch of salt. Cook and stir until the onion turns soft and translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Stir in curry powder, cumin, turmeric, coriander, cayenne, paprika, bay leaves, and cinnamon. Cook for about 1 minute while stirring.
4. Reduce to medium heat. Add chicken to the pan. Cook until the chicken is opaque. Chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point.
5. Add water into your marinade bowl (so it’s easier to empty it) and empty the rest of the marinade into the pan along with the water. Add tomato paste, cilantro, sugar to the pan. Stir to combine.
6. Bring to a boil. Taste and add salt, sugar as needed.
7. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook to reduce the sauce until the desired consistency if necessary.
8. Discard ginger, bay leaves, and cinnamon. Add butter, drizzle whipped cream, lemon juice (if using) and sprinkle on some garam masala. Serve over rice with fresh cilantro. (Chicken tastes even better after a day because it marinates in the sauce.)

I'm not used to seeing Indian chicken dishes with whole breast of chicken. I like it but it seems weird to me. Usually they cut everything up.