Indian chicken

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 chicken of approx. 1.4 kg (or the equivalent number of chicken legs
• 1 large onion(s)
• 2 cloves garlic (or more if you like)
• 1 piece(s) ginger, 2 cm long
• 1 tomato(s) (preferably ripe, otherwise tomato paste is better)
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• ½ liter of water
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 piece(s) cinnamon, cinnamon sticks (not powder!)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 5 cardamom seeds
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp anise
• ½ tsp coriander (ground)
• 1 pepper(s), alternatively chili powder
• Salt
• ½ lemon(s), the juice

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Rest time approx. 3 hours; Total time approx. 3 hours 40 minutes

the time spent is worth it

Rinse the chicken (or chicken pieces) in cold water, pat dry, and cut into pieces. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Peel the ginger root sparingly (but this is not necessary) and cut into thin slices. Heat half of the oil and butter, fry the onion, garlic, and ginger until translucent, then add the spices and fry briefly, then remove everything from the heat. In a pan (preferably coated) with the remaining oil and butter, sear the chicken pieces in batches. Remove from the pan and layer them in the pot with the spices. Finally, briefly fry the diced tomato in the pan, deglaze with the water, and stir to loosen any browning. Add to the chicken pieces in the pot. Bring everything together to a boil briefly, then simmer over very low heat for about three hours, stirring gently every now and then. The sauce should be very creamy and the meat so tender that you can flake it off the bone with a spoon. Squeeze the lemon and season the sauce with the juice, adding more salt if necessary. Serve with rice—or, even better, but not typical—couscous. This dish doesn’t work with chicken breast or turkey schnitzel! You need bone-in meat for that!