Original Indian chicken curry from Pune

Ingredients for 5 servings:

• 6 onions
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 chili peppers, red
• 600 g chicken breast
• 100 ml natural yogurt
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp chili powder, red (not a spice mix!)
• 2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 4 cl oil (rapeseed, corn germ or sunflower oil, not olive oil)
• 20 g fresh ginger
• 3 tbsp spice mix (Chicken Masala or Meat Masala powder from “Everest”)
• 200 ml water
• ½ vegetable stock cube
• 2 cups basmati rice

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 2 hours

found in the recipe book of a family in Pune, India

Cut the meat into pieces (approx. 3 cm each) and marinate in the yogurt. Add 1 teaspoon each of turmeric powder, salt, red chili powder, and curry powder. Finely chop the onions, garlic, ginger, and chilies and blend vigorously with 50 ml of water using an immersion blender. The garlic should outweigh the ginger. Separately, blend the chopped tomatoes until smooth. Bring the remaining water to a boil and whisk it with the vegetable stock in a separate bowl. Heat the oil in a large pot and fry the blended mixture until golden brown. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. Add half of the blended tomatoes, half of the vegetable stock, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, and the 3 tablespoons of masala. Simmer the mixture on low heat for about 20 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the rest of the blended tomato chunks and vegetable stock and wait another 20 minutes until most of the liquid in the curry has evaporated. Add the meat marinated in yogurt and spices. Simmer for 20 minutes over medium heat until the chicken is cooked. Serve with the basmati rice, which has been prepared according to the package instructions. If the curry is too dry, add a little water during cooking. You’ll notice when the curry is getting too thick. If you don’t have the original masala, simply use 3 tablespoons of curry powder and add a pinch of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper. For real chiliheads, you can add more chili. The vegetable stock cube can be omitted if you like; it’s my personal preference.