MURGH MUSALLAM (Chicken Curry)

Servings: 2
Ingredients:

1    Chicken                            14    Black peppercorns
1    Ginger piece, fresh                      -(or less)
-(about 3/4 inch of                 8    Cloves (or less)
-a ginger root)                     1 t  Turmeric
14    Garlic cloves                       1 t  Red chili powder
-(or less)                               -(or substitute fresh
1 lg Onion                                    -red chilies, diced)
1    Cinnamon stick                      2    Green chilies
2    Brown cardamom pods,              1/2 C  Yogurt
-whole                            1/4 C  Oil (preferably ghee,
4    Green cardamom pods,                     -if available)
-whole                                   Salt to taste
1    Star anise, whole                        Coriander leaves,
-(use all 8 arms and                     -fresh (optional)
-the seeds inside them)

Clean and joint chicken. If you don’t like the skin, remove it.

Mash the ginger into a paste (or chop finely) and mince the garlic.

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Use ‘medium-high heat’.

Break apart the star anise to release the seeds inside the arms. To the
frypan, add onions, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, star aniseed,
peppercorns, cloves, garlic and ginger. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
Saute until the onions are cooked but not browned.

Add the chicken, turmeric and chili powder and cook on a medium heat,
stirring often.

When the oil starts to separate (the gravy will have oil floating on its
surface), add the yogurt and cook till the chicken is done and the gravy is
thick. Finally, add the fresh coriander leaves.

This is the basic recipe. Try varying the whole spice combinations until
you find a favorite. The recipe doubles well.

NOTES:

* Chicken curry — This recipe is the real thing. Throw out your curry
powder: you’ll never use it again once you’ve tried this recipe. Chicken
curry using the real spices cannot be beat!! Servings: serves 2-3.

* A cardamom pod is not the same thing as a cardamom seed. Make sure you
get the pods. A pod is about the size of a pea and contains seeds inside
it. Don’t substitute the ground version of any of the whole spices, the
effect will not be the same. And don’t use white cardamom pods.

* You may want to remove the smaller whole spices prior to adding the
yogurt so that unwitting guests don’t eat them. Try the recommended
quantity of garlic. The flavour is surprisingly subtle. More yogurt makes
more gravy. Also a longer cooking time. Vary the amount of chilies to suit
your taste. This recipe is medium-hot. I hope this satisfies your
mouth-hunger. The spice quantities may be varied to suit your preferences.

: Difficulty: easy, though timing matters when cooking the onions.
: Time: 20 minutes preparation, 1 1/2 hours cooking.
: Precision: measure the oil.

: Joseph Sotham
: University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC
: It is better to travel happily than to arrive

: Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust

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