A twist in the chicken ~ Methi Chicken

I and my husband are obsessed over chicken. Be it smoked, baked, fried, steamed.....name it and we like it. But more than anything I like the spicy chicken with Indian masalas. With other things may be the stomach will be full but the mind is never satisfied!!! My cookery lessons started with dahi chicken and then as I went on I saw that I can bend the rules to get a complete new dish. Add the tomatoes its one dish. Exclude them and that will be some other, add the green paste made of coriander and mint leaves and it will be green chicken, saute the whole thing in butter and it will be something else, add only dahi with poppy seeds and it will be rezala!!! There are so much to explore. So the new dish that I discovered is the Methi Chicken!!! And omg its tasty as hell. With a sweet and tangy taste from the tomatoes and a little bitterness from the methy leaves and the buttery soft gravy made from the yogurt with oil oozing out from the chicken pieces makes it a dish worth eying and then gobbling!!!! He He!!!!
We don't get methi leaves like India. But last month when I went to the Indian Market imagine my excitement when I searched for the methi leaves and there it was.. only one packet waiting to be grabbed by me!!! It was not fresh leaves but dried leaves. But whatever, they were methi and I decided then and there that I have finalized my diner menu and that is the Methi Chicken!!! Turned out be a real show stopper. Serve hot, paired with chapatis or steaming rice and devour in the ultimate rich delicacy.


Methi Chicken

Ingredients:

• 500gm chicken
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 10-12curry leaves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 cup methi leaves (fresh/dries)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• salt
• oil
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 cup water

Method:

• Marinate the chicken with yogurt, all the masalas, 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste, salt and oil.
• Heat up oil in the pan. I prefer little oil so its always 2tbsp for me. But you can always increase the quantity if you like.
• Put cumin seeds and curry leaves.
• As they sizzle up put the onions and stir until they turn golden brown.
• Add salt, rest of the ginger-garlic pate.
• Add tomatoes and cook until the raw flavor is gone.
• Add the methi leaves and cook until the tomatoes are full cooked and totally mashed up.
• Add chicken and let them cook cover stirring occasionally so that they don't stick to the pan and het burnt.
• Don't add water as they will cook in their own oil.
• When the chicken is all fine and tender add water to make the gravy.
• Simmer until the gravy reaches your preferred consistency. Make it real thick if you will eat it with chapatis or leave it a little watery to be eaten with rice.
• Add a little garam masala. Simmer for 3-5 minutes and switch off the flame.

See you next time..!!