Tomato Chicken

A very simple Indian chicken curry recipe which is guaranteed to please.  Chicken is combined with tomatoes and spices and cooked together to create an amazing dish.

This is an early recipe from my collection and is very dear to me.  It is a very basic Indian style chicken curry recipe and yet it has a timeless appeal. I still cook it fairly regularly and it never fails.

If you are new to Indian cooking this is a good recipe to start with ....easy, yet with all the Indian flavours that have caught the world's imagination and made Indian cuisine so popular.

Ingredients: 

1 chicken, cut in mid size pieces ( 800 gm to 1 kg)
5-6 mid size onions, finely chopped
4 green chilly (or as per taste), finely chopped
5 tomatoes, finely chopped
10 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 inch ginger, finely chopped
1 tea spoon coriander powder
1 tea spoon turmeric powder
1/2 tea spoon red chilly powder
salt to taste
1/2 tea spoon cumin seeds
1/2 tea spoon mustard seeds
Pinch of  hing (asafoetida)
4 table spoon oil
Coriander leaves,finely chopped, for garnish
Whole spices: 5 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon, 1 black cardamom, 8-10 peppercorn,

Method:  In a heavy bottom pan put oil. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, asafoetida and the whole spices....cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and peppercorn. Add finely chopped ginger, garlic and green chilly. Then add the finely sliced onions. Saute till onions turn slightly brown.  Add chicken and fry on low heat till chicken loses raw colour and is lightly fried. Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilly powder and  coriander powder.   After awhile add the tomatoes and stir till gravy leaves oil. Transfer to pressure cooker.  Add one and a half cups of warm  water and cook till chicken is tender.  Before serving sprinkle coriander leaves.

Indian cooking is all about getting the masala ( onion plus spice mix) right.  If that is not saute'd well, the final look and taste will be affected. Adding warm water to the  gravy helps to release the oil and gives a nice appearance to the dish. Quality of tomatoes often differs. If tomatoes are hard, then it is better to blend rather than chop. If tomatoes are not sour, add a table spoon or so of tomato paste.