Murgh Masala - Chicken Masala

Hey guys! I'm back.... since erghh 15 days! And I'm still struggling to find time to write a post. I told you how excited I was when I left ...did I also tell you that I joined a new job the very next day? Perhaps not. So thats what has been up. New job. And its not easy. Not as easy as I thought it was to get used to a new place, new people and new work. Strangely enough the new job was a gamble that I had taken for ..." the kick of it ". New things excite me and sometimes I get carried away. Not that I regret doing it, but I miss my friends at work. I really do, more than I thought I would. And I have exams coming up in about 10 days. So there I go again bitching.

But you that's not entirely true. I love my life but just about sometimes I need to bug someone and that someone turns out to be my blog. But I have something great for you, be merry !

Now Murgh Masala is the hindi name for a chicken in spicy sauce. And there is no standard recipe for it. Anything that has chicken and spice would be put as murgh masala. A restaurant menu would describe this dish as succulent and spicy chicken whole legs cooked in onion ,tomatoes and almond gravy. With a good hand on  Indian spices, you can almost never go wrong with Indian style chicken. This one is a much easier one and big on taste. Try it.

Murgh Masala
Serves : 2 famish or 3 normal or 4 sophisticated people.
Ingredients
4 whole chicken legs
10 almonds
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp Sauf aka Fennel Seeds
1 tsp Cumin seeds
2 green chillies
2 cardamom pods
2 red onions (finely chopped)
2 tomatoes (small and ripe, chopped)
1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
2 tbsp Olive oil
Coriander to garnish


Note: 

Grinding fresh spices is so easy and I don't know why people run from it. With a coffee grinder or spice grinder, it happens in a matter of seconds and adds so much to the depth and aroma of the food. Its not like I'm asking you to get a mortar and pestle, which I will after my retirement .Go ahead use the seeds and grind them yourself. But if you won't budge you can use powdered spices too but you will have to double the quantity.

Method: 

Marinate the chicken in yogurt, red chilly powder, turmeric, GG paste, green chillies and salt. Keep aside. If you are a planned person you might want to marinate it overnight and I will praise you. But if you are like me 1 hour of marination will work and we are friends. If you can marinate it for half an hour ONLY it will work well as well and I'll understand.

Meanwhile, lets grind the spices. Almonds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom pods and fennel seeds all go together to the glorious journey of murgh masala. Zoom Zap, see it just took 15 seconds !

Heat oil in a wok or saucepan. Add the chopped onions and let them soften. Add the almond spice mix. This is going to be moment as the beautiful aroma of sauf will engulf your kitchen.

Add the tomatoes and let them reduce to a paste. My damn tomatoes were red but so not ripe. See.

Add the marinated chicken along with the marinate. Cover and cook for 25 minutes at low heat. If the paste seems to dry out, try adding a littler water, just enough to help the cooking process.

Garnish with coriander.

Rich, succulent and spicy. This is Indian food. Not the oil drenching, awfully spicy and red colored chicken. This is real stuff, the one you will make again and again.