Andhra chicken curry

When the hubby made a puppy face and asked “can you make chicken gravy with rice today please?” It did melt my heart, but I couldn’t help remembering the horrendous disasters I had with a simple chicken curry. The next few words out the husbands mouth “Ask mom how to make it” and then I was more determined than ever to make a chicken curry of my own, I was determined to make it as tasty as I could... And yes, my determination did yield some spicy fruit... Me: “is the curry good?” Husband: “Yes, Yummy!” Me: “Great, so my recipe worked...” Husband: Stares at me and asks “u dint ask mom how to make this?” Me: “Nope” and I give a toothy smile:-D

½ kg chicken (preferably chicken thigh) Marinade: 2 tbsp curd ¼ tsp turmeric ½ tsp salt Juice of half lemon Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and rub it through the chicken and let it marinate for 20 minutes. Ingredients 3 Tbsp oil 1 green cardamom ½ inch cinnamon 2 cloves 5-6 black pepper corns 3 green chilies slit into half (adjust according to heat tolerance) 3 medium sized onions, 2 medium sized tomatoes 3 tbsp ginger garlic paste 3 tbsp freshly grated coconut 1 tsp coriander powder 1 ½ tsp chili powder ½ tsp roasted cumin powder ½ tsp garam masala Salt to taste 1 bunch coriander leaves Cut 2 onions into slivers and keep aside. Roughly chop one onion, 2 tomatoes and puree in a mixer (Food processor) and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan; add the chicken pieces and fry for 5-8 minutes till they turn light golden brown. Take out the chicken keep aside. In the same oil, add cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns. Sauté for 1 minute, add the onions fry till translucent ( About 4 minutes ), then add the ginger garlic paste and sauté for 4 minutes ,add in the coconut and fry for another 3-4 minutes. Now add the onion and tomato puree, half bunch chopped coriander and fry till oil starts separating. Add in the cumin, coriander and chili powder and fry for 2 minutes. Add 2 ½ cups of water cover and cook for 10 minutes. Then add in the chicken pieces, salt, cover and cook for about 15-20 minutes, till the gravy thickens. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with Rice or roti. Note: If using chicken breast, fry the chicken till 80 % cooked and add cook the chicken in gravy only for 5 minutes. Cooking the chicken breast in tomato sauce tends to make it rubbery.