Currythief's Basic Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1/2 cup of clarified butter (Ghee)

2 onions,

2 cloves of garlic

1 medium sized palm of ginger (or two tablespoons of ginger powder)

1 curry leaf

2 medium russet potatoes, skinned and sliced into small bite-sized chunks

1 tablespoon each;

Cumin powder

Coriander powder

Turmeric powder

Fennel powder

Honey to taste

1/4 cup canola oil

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1/2 cup of chicken stock

Mise En Place:

Measure out spice powders into a single bowl. It doesn't matter if they mix. Put the curry leaf in with it, you will add them at the same time.

Slice chicken into smaller pieces, a little larger than what you would put in your mouth in one bite – the chicken will shrink a bit when it cooks, so don't worry about the size.

Chop onions, ginger, & garlic, and set aside in a bowl.

Skin and slice the potatoes into small bite-sized chunks, set aside in a bowl.

Have chicken stock ready nearby in a container

Ça Marche:

Parboil the potatoes for about ten minutes until they are almost done – drain and set aside, they will finish cooking in the curry.

Oil the pan with the canola oil, and heat it. Add chicken pieces, and fry for Five to Eight minutes. Do NOT finish cooking the chicken, it will finish itself in the gravy, you only want to get the process started, and get some color on the chicken.

Remove chicken and set in a bowl for later, but save half a cup of the grease in the pan, discard the rest. Heat up the pan again, and oil it with the chicken grease. Allow it to get hot, and add the onions, garlic and ginger. Let them fry together for a few minutes, then add the Ghee, powdered spices and curry leaf.

Reduce the heat to low and stir the mixture, allowing the spices, oil and onions to fry together. This is the point where the spices will "marry" each other, and it takes at least 20 minutes of low frying to get a smooth paste that's not gritty. The spices will burn on high heat, so you must keep the temperature on med-low for now. Also, bruise the curry leaf a in the pan a bit, to release the flavor more.

After 20 minutes or so, you will see the curry paste become smooth and the aromatics will fill the air. This is the time to add the chicken stock, and let the curry simmer for another 10 minutes. Stir constantly, and don't allow the curry at the bottom of the pan to burn.

At this point, you should have been cooking for about 30 to 45 minutes. From here, you have two options:

1: Strain the curry into a bowl, leaving the remnants of the garlic, ginger and other solids in the strainer, and return the smooth gravy to the pan. This serves no other purpose than to make a smooth, restaurant-style gravy.

2: leave everything as is. This is homestyle, and how I and most native Indians prefer it.

Add the potatoes and chicken, let simmer for five to ten minutes. Check to make sure the potatoes are soft and chicken is cooked through.

Stir in the honey at the end, taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve with rice.

Variations:

1: At the same time you add the chicken stock, also add 1 cup of crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce. Let simmer for five minutes longer, and add an additional stick of unsalted butter along with 1/2 cup heavy cream. This becomes a basic butter chicken.

2: Add 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream or yoghurt. This makes a creamy, less piquant curry.

3: Add 1 can of coconut milk. Don't add honey to this, as the coconut milk will sweeten the curry enough.

4: Add a generous dollop or two of Sambal Oleck (Red Pepper Garlic sauce) to the frying spices before you add the chicken stock. This become chili chicken.

5: For "Yellow" style curry (Turmeric-heavy) add only 1/2 tablespoon of all other ingredients, and 1 & 1/2 tablespoon of turmeric.