Beginner's Chicken

After a month of struggling with boiled potato, I discovered Chicken. The good thing about chicke is that it is very difficult to go wrong with it. I am putting down what I used to do in my very early days with chicken. Even now I use this recipe most of the time, with some variation. The only major ingredient you require for this one is a lot of patience.

Cut 2 lb ( 900 gms) chicken into small pieces. Good if it is boneless, does not matter otherwise. Add to that a cup and a half of beaten curd / yoghurt to make the marinate mix. (You can get a very interesting variant if you use sweet curd (mishti Doi). Add one tablespoon of oil. In the mixer, make a paste of two large red onions and two tomatoes, and add it to the mix. Add to it one table spoon of salt, one table spoon of chilli powder and three tablespoons of chicken masala. You can get Everest or any other Masala in any Indian shop. If you have ginger garlic paste, add it too. Otherwise, add three cloves of garlic and a small piece of ginger to the mixer when you make the onion-tomato paste. This, too, is kind of optional. If you do not have chicken masala, no problem. However, then make sure you add the ginger and garlic. Mix the marinate well and let it stay for about an hour.

Add three table spoons of oil to the frying pan. When it gets heated up, slowly add the marinated mix, and start frying. Use the spatula to churn the pieces. Keep churning. Do not add water. It will start boiling after sometime when juices will come out of the chicken. Let the juices dry up. Once it starts drying up, you will find that the chicken is slowly changing its colour to light brown. Keep churning now to ensure that it does not stick to the botom of the pan. After it comes to a point where it will get stuck unless you churn it vigorously, add two cups of water. Let it boil. It is now that the Chicken is getting its taste. By now, the chicken pieces will have disintegrated into almost a paste-like consistency. Once this mixture almost dries up, you are done. Add some butter or ghee before turning the oven off.

If you do not have a mixer, there is some work to be done. Its the usual fare though. Cut the onions into very small pieces, and fry till golden. Add half a tablespoon of salt, same amount of chilli powder. Add the ginger and garlic if you have them (small pieces if you do not have the paste). By this time, you should have cut the tomatoes too into small pieces. You can use diced tomato or puree instead. Now add the tomato, and fry. Now add a teaspoon of the chicken masala (if you have it). Keep frying until you get a the onion and tomato mix, and almost become a paste. Then add the chicken. You can also try cutting two to three potatoes (size of the pieces should be equal to the size of the chicken pieces), and add them with the chicken.

The chicken is ready. This method has never failed me, and will never fail you. All the best.