Chicken Curry for the Teenager's Soul

My older one( turned 13 a couple of months back) is very interested in cooking(read earlier blog titled Ken can bake- have chronicled his first attempt at baking a cake). He has been assembling starters for a while now, painstakingly making little cubes out of pineapple slices/cheese and stringing them on a toothpick. Ditto for salami and olives. I love the way he arranges the starters on a platter often with a little 'ketchup art' in the center. Apart from preparing them he is also quite focussed on making the dish visually appealing.

Been pestering me for a while to allow him to cook some " real stuff". Last week my maid assumed I would cook the chicken after I got back from work( I do that quite often so cannot blame the maid). For once I was not really in a mood to cook. So our young man got his chance. To make life a little easier for him I got him to pick up a packet of a ready to use curry paste. He followed the instructions to a T down to the cream and corriander garnish. The chicken curry was quite nice. The next day I made a chicken pulao with the leftover curry( Yep! cooking with leftovers). I must also tell you about the wine chicken(refer blog for recipe) and pasta salad( with apple, raisins and almond) that I rehashed into a lovely pasta dish for last evening's dinner. But more on that some other time.

For now a quick recap of the chicken curry. Typically I make a Chicken curry from scratch preferring the freshly ground ginger garlic paste to the bottled versions but I guess curry pastes are handy when you are rushed for time. Or when you have a lone non-vegetarian guest, the spread is largely vegetarian and you don't want to sweat over the chicken curry.

Quick Chicken Curry(Ideal for first timers)

Ingredients

Chicken: 1 kilo( recipe suggests you use boneless chicken but I find cooking chicken with the bones makes the meat more succulent)

Kitchens of India Butter Chicken Masala: I packet. I have used other brands like Parampara and they work equally well. I typically use double the quantity of the chicken suggested by the recipe as the curry gets too spicy for my taste otherwise.

Dahi: 2tbsp(optional)

Water: 2 cups( add more if you need a little more gravy)

Cream: 1 tbsp( for the garnish)

Method

Prick the chicken pieces with a toothpick and marinate the chicken pieces in the masala for at least half an hour. You could add a tbsp or two of Dahi to help tenderize the chicken

Then add two cups of water to the marinated chicken, transfer to a Kadai and let it cook covered for about 25/30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once the chicken is done, check the seasoning. Garnish with some cream and a sprig of corriander. Serve hot.

Goes well with hot chappatis and Pulaos.

Watch this space for an eggless chocolate cake( Thanks G for the recipe).

Happy cooking and Bon Apetit!