Easy Royal Chicken Curry

Many, many years ago, when we lived in Bangalore and I was a working wife, I received a Recipe book as a gift. It was a book on different ways to cook Chicken and chicken alone. Those were the days when we relied on word of mouth and books for recipes that were jealously guarded and rarely shared. I remember going through anything and everything I could lay my hands on to get great tasting recipes. Anyway, to come back to this recipe book that I received as a gift, it was called Favourite Chicken Recipes and was full of delicious dishes, hints and ideas for family fare, entertaining and outdoor meals. I was thrilled to receive it and absolutely enjoyed going through it. I must admit that I read recipe books like novels and is one of my favourite occupations. I meticulously tried out many recipes which were well received and continued using the book when we moved to Kuala Lumpur in the mid nineties. One of the nicest recipes I tried was the Royal Chicken Curry which is a finger licking, rich, creamy concoction that my family loved. So when I started my cooking classes and Indian Food Workshops, I dipped into the book and taught it to a German family who loved it too. Without much ado , here is the recipe for my Easy Royal Chicken Curry reminiscent of the glorious Moghul era.

The Recipe:

Royal Chicken- a creamy curry garnished with almond flakes and coriander leaves.

1 chicken ( about 1.5 to 2 kgs, jointed, washed and drained); 1 cup cream ( 250 ml); 1 tbsp Masala Powder; 1 tbsp olive oil; 3 medium onions, sliced fine; 5 large cloves garlic, crushed; 1 tbsp ginger, crushed; 2 tsp garam masala;; salt to taste; juice of 1 lemon ( optional); ½ cup water.

Garnish:  Coriander leaves and almond flakes (optional)

Mix the Masala Powder and cream together and marinade the chicken in it for at least 30 minutes.

Heat a large pan, add the olive oil and stir fry the onions and ginger garlic till golden brown on medium flame. Add the chicken and water and gently stir.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes on simmer till done.  Add the garam masala, mix together and remove from fire.  Squeeze the lemon juice over and serve hot garnished with coriander leaves and almonds.

NB:  If using a pressure cooker, cook for 5 minutes under pressure.  Wait for pressure to be released, open and add garam masala and lemon juice as above.

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