Chicken Curry with Mint & Cilantro

Minty Chicken Curry

Mum used to make her father's scrumptious recipe which she called Ceylon Chicken. Dadu (grandfather) was a wonderful cook and enjoyed international cuisine as much as Indian food. 

Using bone-in chicken in this dish would make it immensely more flavourful, but that's a matter of personal preference. I've used boneless and skinless chicken thighs for dinner tonight. Serve this as a main course with steamed rice or chapatis.

Ingredients

1 lb. chicken cut into bite size pieces

1 cup plain yogurt or juice of 1 lime

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil 

1 tsp. white pepper powder

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. salt or to taste

1/2 cup crisply fried onions, crushed

2 tsp. garlic paste

1 tsp. ginger paste

1 tsp. green chili paste

1 large onion, sliced thin

1 bunch coriander leaves/cilantro with stems

1 bunch mint leaves

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil 

¼ tsp. cumin/shah jeera seeds

3 cloves

4 black cardamom pods

2 cinnamon sticks

1 stalk curry leaves, stems removed

4 hot chili peppers, sliced

Directions

1. Chop cilantro along with mint and blend to a smooth paste. 
2. Marinate chicken with next 9 ingredients and cilantro-mint paste for half an hour.
3. Heat remaining oil over medium-high heat and sputter cumin seeds,  cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and curry leaves. 
4. Add onions and when they turn translucent, add chicken and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Lower heat to medium, stir chicken, adjust salt to taste, cover and  simmer for 20 minutes until chicken is cooked and oil resurfaces.
6. Garnish with sliced chilies and remove from heat.

Serve with steamed rice or any Indian bread.