A lighter take

Pushpesh Pant

Chicken in any form and spicing continues to be the favourite of the young and old. It is not only tandoori tikka or tangadi kebab that are bestsellers in North India, the South is smitten by Chicken 65. However, good old chicken curry is seldom encountered these days. It has been pushed off stage by kormas and mussalams. The beauty of a murgh is that it takes much less time to cook than other meats and it is considered healthier. This recipe is a take on the chaalu commercial butter chicken. It is far lighter yet spicy enough to pep up the lunch or dinner on a moist rainy day.

Surkh Chooza

Ingredients

• Chicken (Boneless) 500g
• Tomatoes (Pureed) 200ml 
• Butter 50ml
• Onions 1 large, sliced fine
• Garlic/ginger paste 1tsp
• Whole red chilies 3 deseeded 
• Black peppercorn, coarsely ground ¼ tsp
• Coriander powder ½ tsp 
• Curd 45ml 
• Salt

Method

Wash and pat dry the chicken. Prepare a marinade by whisking the curd with the powdered spices and salt and apply this to the chicken pieces placed in a bowl. Grind the chilies to a coarse paste, adding a little water in a mortar and pestle. Add to the marinade along with ginger and garlic paste. Keep aside for 30 minutes. Heat butter in a pan, add sliced onions and stir fry till they are translucent. Add pureed tomatoes and continue to cook till the tomatoes and onions are well blended. Now put in the chicken along with the marinade and reduce the heat to medium after stir frying on high flame for a minute. Continue to cook on low flame, covered, for another 10 minutes or till done to taste. Sprinkle a little water if required. You may once uncover in between to inspect the dish as it cooks. Serve with hot phulka, steamed rice or parantha.