I have never really blogged about the food I make. I never aimed for having a food blog. I usually try to replicate my mom’s recipes, since she is a superlative cook or I look up stuff on the net and add a dash of me as the recipe progresses on the burner. But since today I made something totally unscripted and by the grace of the gourmet god, it turned out pretty awesome did I decide (read dare) to publish it in my blog.

First of all, I did not have tomatoes at home. No puree either. Too lazy to go out to the grocery to get some, I decided to make chicken without any tomatoes. Here goes:

Chunk up the chicken breasts and marinate them in some fresh curd, with salt and pepper. I prefer the chicken chunks to be bite sized and not bigger.

Chop up 2 medium size onions.

Blanch some almonds. Chop them up roughly.

Use an entire bunch of coriander. Get them all finely chopped. Ah, love the smell of fresh coriander!

Take 3 pods of garlic and finely chop them. Take about an inch of ginger and do the same that you did with the garlic. Keep aside.

Now in a pan, heat up some oil; about 3 tablespoons. I usually work on eye-estimation. Throw in about 4-5 cloves. Remember to take off the heads. When the oil is infused with the cloves, put in a bay leaf. No panic, if you don’t have any at home. Then just do so without it. Throw in a small teaspoon of cummin seeds and see them spluttering. Add in 2 dried red chillies. Let the garlic and ginger say hello. Add in the chopped onions and allow it to introduce itself. Sweat them in the pan. I prefer the onions a little brownish pink, so keep stirring in and use your eyes. Add the almonds. Mix it well. Once done, and you will know that from the wonderful aroma, it is time for the masalas. One teaspoon of fenugreek powder and a half of cumin powder, if you don’t have the seeds. Do not add turmeric. One thing that I do not like about Indian food is the use of turmeric in just about everything. In about a minute, slide in the coriander. Let everything say hello to all else in the pan. And then add in the chicken and the marinade as well. Coat the chicken with the onion bed. Give it about a minute or so. Mix in some water; enough to cover the chicken, just about. A pinch of salt. Remember, you used salt while marinating the chicken, so go easy. Cover your pot and let it slow cook for 30 minutes.

Take off heat. Check gravy consistency. Check chicken if ready.

Spoon over some rice or pulao!

Bon appetit!