Desi murgh curry: Special chicken curry
Farmed chicken turned a glorious curry into an ordinary one. To get the real taste of the orginal, you have to use a desi murgh - a young male organic pasturised chicken. It should be cooked slowly till tender to allow the herbs and spices to pentetrate and release the full flavor of the chicken. A regular chicken can be used instead of pasture raised organic bird: however you'll probably reduce the amount of water for cooking. Serve with mango pickle and nans or boiled or pulao rice.


Ingredients:
1/4 cup or 2 tbsp Olive oil
2 large onions finely sliced
2 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp ginger paste
4 tomatoes peeled and finely chopped(Pls dont use canned tomato sauce)
2 oz 50 grams plain Greek-style yogurt
11/2 tsp red chilli (I used one tsp as chilli is too hot)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ground coriander seeds
3 large black cardamom pods
6 cloves
1 bay leaf
salt to taste
1 pasture raised organic chicken, about 2 3/4 lb(1.2 kg), cut into 8 pieces skinned if preferred
5-6 tbsp coriander leaves
Method:
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large saucepan and fry onion till golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon. Allow them to cool and chop them finely in a food processor. Set aside.
In the same pan, add another tbsp of oil and add ginger, garlic paste and stir for few minutes. Add tomatoes and stir well, then stir in the yogurt and cook for 5-6minutes. Add the brown onion paste and stir to combine, then add all the spices, bayleaf and salt to taste. Cook stirring until the oil separates out.
Put the chicken pieces in the pan and spoon the spice mixture over them. Add 2 cups of water. Put the lid on the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, 40-50 minutes and until the chicken is cooked through and tender. Add more water if needed.
Remove the lid and continue cooking for 10 minutes or until the oil in the sauce separates out.
Stir in 1/4 cup of the chopped cilantro. Garnish with the remaining chopped cilantro and serve.
The curry can be made in advance and reheated in the pan over low heat or in a microwave.