Chicken with Mild Balti Spices

Whew... haven't posted in awhile, have I? Since coming back from New Zealand... I haven't been all that busy, yet for some reason, there hasn't been much oppurtunity to cook. In any case, this dish is actually from before I went to Dunedin. I can't remember why I haven't posted it before, but oh well.. never mind. Here we go. :)

What you need:
3 tablespoons oil
3 medium onions, sliced
3 medium tomatoes, halved and sliced
1-inch cinamon stick
2 large black cardamom pods - No idea what this is. :P Omitted.
4 black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon black cumin seeds - used the normal kind....
1 teaspoon grated fresh root ginger
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon chilli powder - or to taste ;)
1 teaspoon salt
1.3kg chicken, skinned and cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons plain yoghurt - I *think* I just used milk for this...
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander - omitted
2 fresh green chillies, chopped - omitted

What you do:

1.  Heat the oil in a wok or heavy-based frying pan. Add the onions and fry until they are golden brown. Add the tomatoes and stir well. Add the cinnamon stick, cardamoms, peppercorns, black cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, garam masala, chilli powder and salt. Lower the heat and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes.
2. Add the chicken pieces, two at a time, and stir-fry for at least 7 minutes or until the spice mixture has completely penetrated the chicken. Add the yoghurt and mix well.
3. Lower the heat and cover the pan. Cook very gently for about 15 minutes, checking once to make sure the sauce is not catching on the bottom of the pan. Finally, add the lemon juice, fresh coriander and green chillies, and serve at once.
   

As per the usual, I made this for lunch. Our dinners nowadays tend to be a bit lighter, which is good, I suppose. Anyway, because I decided on this recipe at the last minute, again... I didn't have all the ingredients, such as the yoghurt and cardamom pods. Of course, Supasave is just a drive away, but I couldn't be bothered, haha.

Plus, the chicken turned out delicious anyway! I actually can't tell you how it tasted exactly... my memory is a bit fuzzy now. But I do remember I liked it. Plus, chicken with tomatoes is always delicious! :) There are quite a bit of spices in there, but since they are kept whole and not ground, they lend just a delicate flavour to the chicken and does not overpower it at all.

Sorry I can't write more about this... Oh well, I'll try to write the next dish when it is fresher in my mind. :) In the meantime, enjoy!

Quote of the day: One of the delights of life is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends.