Food and Cooking

The most basic recipe I make here in India is this : (I'm unable to give exact measurements because I don't use them myself)

For the chicken :

• Typically, leftover tandoori chicken is used, but you can also use some basic cooked chicken.

• I usually do a simple yoghurt and spice marinades. If you have a spice store around your place, look for tandoori masala. It can make your life easier.

For the sauce (for roughly 200gms of chicken):

• Start with some butter/oil/ghee in a pan.

• Add 1-2 medium-sized onions, roughly chopped.

• Add about a tablespoon of ginger and about the same of garlic. You can use ginger garlic paste if you want (blended in a 1:1 ratio).

• Cook it a little bit, but don't turn the heat on because you don't want to colour the onions. You can add some salt to speed up the process.

• Add some whole spices - 3-4 cloves, 1-2 cardamoms, small piece of cinnamon, 4-5 black pepper corns. I also add like a petal of star anise.

• Add about a fistful of cashews.

• Cook it out for 2-3 minutes on a low heat. You basically want the onions to soften and the raw ginger and garlic smell to go.

• Add tomatoes. For every 1 onion, I go for 2 tomatoes. I usually just eyeball it by volume.

• Add powdered spices - 1 teaspoon each of Coriander powder and cumin powder, 2 teaspoon of Kashmiri red chilli powder (it's important that it's Kashmiri because this is very mild and only adds colour. If you're using any other chilli, use less or as per your choice.) , 0.5 teaspoon of turmeric.

• Stir and cook until the spices are done. You'll know this in one of two ways - the raw smell of the spices are gone, or the oil separates from the mixture in the pan. This takes a bit of time and practice to get right. You can find images or videos if you google "oil separates spices". If the pan is running dry, add a splash of water every now and then.

• When it's done, let the mixture cool and then blend it until smooth. Run it through a sieve if you have the patience for even more smooth results.

• Now, in a pan, add the blended curry and add some water to thin it. Check for seasoning. Add the chicken, add some cream to thicken it and add some richness.

This is a very easy recipe that can be customized for anything. Add paneer instead of chicken and you have Paneer Butter Masala. Add peas and paneer, and you have matar paneer. Add assorted veges and cook it in this curry and you have mix veg.