Chicken Bhuna/ chicken roast

Khawan (store brought) is a perfect roti for this chicken roast

•  A very 'fine food critic, hard to please taste bud' of the family really approves that the justice has been done to this borrowed recipe. That says it all!

A quick chicken roast saves the gloomy sunday eve at the Rao household. I for one needed something 'desi', cooking at my stove top this evening. There is only so much take outs, food courts and frozen dinners one can eat all in one weekend.

 Picturing a rich spicy dish, loved by all (yeah, I want the kind I know for sure is a winner) that shouts 'eat me', on this cold cold winter eve, I set out to go to my staple bhuna/roast chicken.

 You know how Sunday eve sneaks up on us faster than we want it to arrive. I want it all to slow down, bring the family to the table for a favourite meal & conclude the leisure event-free weekend, happily.

Chicken bhuna is the name that is screaming loud, much louder than I can hear my thoughts. I shuffle through the papers of hand written recipes to find the one from years ago. I wish I remembered who I wrote it down from (ah, I miss my apartment friends), so I could giving her the right credit. I can't keep a good recipe down, so here I am sharing our family favourite.


Ingredients:
Chicken 2 lbs, cut into big pieces
Onions 1, diced
Tomatoes 4-5, finely chopped
Ginger -Garlic paste- 2tbs
Green chillies 4, slit
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Coriander seeds - 2 tablespoons
Cumin seeds - 2 teaspoons
Blackpepper - 8
Garam Masala - 2 tablespoons
Kasuri methi - 1 teaspoon.
Oil -3tbs
Salt - to taste.
Fresh cilantro to garnish



Method:
Dry roast coriander seeds, cumin and black peppercorns and grind to a coarse powder.

Heat oil in a kadai over medium-high heat until very hot, add onion and saute till lightly browned. Add the ground spice powder,red chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and saute for a couple minutes.

Add tomatoes and salt and continue to saute till the tomatoes softens, add in chicken, lower the heat to simmer and continue to cook until the chicken are cooked through and the sauce has thickened coating the chicken (about 5 to 6 minutes).

Once the chicken is tender, add half a cup of water and cover the pan and simmer for 5 more minutes. At this point, chicken is cooked through and the gravy is thick and rich. Add in garam masala and kasuri methi (crush in your palms to wake up the aroma) and cook for 2 minutes .

Garnish with cilantro (I ran out justifying that kasuri methi was flavorful enough). Serve immediately with rice and roti.