Masala chicken in the toddler home!

Well, being a toddler home masala can get only that much more spicier! This recipe may not ooze oil nor heat like a kolhapuri chicken would but works well for the palette of both the young as well as the old! My Lil one revolts to mashed food so here comes a life of 'happy beginings' for us! :D

Again as always I keep my efforts to the bare minimum and this is how I made a quick and easy version of the masala chicken.

 

Ingredients:

For marination: You can marinate for a couple of hours to a day. Mine was closer to a day! :)

• Chicken: 1 kg of pre-cut chicken, cleaned and kept aside
• Curd: 1 1/2 cups, beaten
• Garlic Paste- 1 tablespoon
• Ginger Paste- 1 tablespoon
• Salt- 1 1/2 teaspoon
• Tandoori Chicken Masala- 1 1/2 tablespoon

 For masala chicken:

• Oil- 1 tablespoon
• Ginger paste- 1 teaspoon
• Garlic Paste- 1 teaspoon
• Onion- 4, halved and thinly sliced lenght-wise
• Sugar- 1 tablespoon
• Turmeric- 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt- As per taste
• Home-made garam masala- 1 tablespoon
• Coriander leaves- 2 tablespoons, chopped fine

In case you'd want to make the garam masala and tandoori masala from the scratch (that's how I like doing it) you can click on this link!

Method:

• Clean chicken and place in a large mixing bowl. Add all the ingredients listed under marination into the bowl and mix the chicken along with the marinade thoroughly. Set aside in the fridge for as long as you want (I've not let the mixture last more than a day).
• Heat oil in the cooker. Add the ginger and garlic paste. Fry till they are near brown. Now add the onions and fry on a medium high flame. Sprinkle the sugar on the onion, this gives a nice caramelised colour to the masala. While frying keep sprinkling water at intervals to avoid the masala from burning. The onions will turn brown and have a soft texture. You can at this point smell the fried onions.
• Add the marinated chicken to the masala and increase the flame to high. Mix it well so that the masala and the marination blend. Keep frying for another 5 minutes on a medium high flame. You will see the oil dis-integrate.
• Now add the turmeric powder, garam masala and coriander leaves. Pour 1/4th cup of water. Mix thoroughly. Check for salt at this stage. You may need to add a teaspoon but that needs to be as per your taste.
• Secure the lid and cook on medium high till 1 pressure releases. Switch off the heat.

Garnish with a sprinkle of coriander leaves.

Serve hot with Veggie pulao OR Roti OR Bajra Roti