Spinach Chicken Curry
Directions
- 1Start by making a ginger garlic paste: blend garlic, ginger, and 1 optional green chili with about 4 tablespoons of water to a smooth paste.
- 2Coarsely grind green cardamoms, cloves, and black peppercorns.
- 3Heat a pan on medium heat and add a dried bay leaf and a cinnamon stick.
- 4Add onions and a sprinkle of salt, then fry them on medium-high heat until they soften and start getting some color along the edges.
- 5Add the ground spices, followed by the ginger garlic paste.
- 6Stir for about 2 minutes on medium heat until the raw smell of ginger and garlic goes away.
- 7Lower the heat as much as possible and add Kashmiri red chilli powder or paprika, turmeric powder, ground coriander, and a little bit of ground cumin.
- 8Stir for just 2 seconds to prevent the spices from burning.
- 9Add the boneless skinless chicken thighs and stir them along with the spices on high heat for three to four minutes.
- 10Add the tomatoes and salt, then stir until the tomatoes turn mushy.
- 11Add a sprinkle of sugar to balance the flavor.
- 12Cover the pan and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.
- 13Add about a cup of hot water and cover again, cooking on medium-low heat for 5 more minutes.
- 14Lift the lid; the chicken should be tender.
- 15Add 2 tablespoons of sour cream (optional, or use cooking cream or yogurt).
- 16Add garam masala powder and a pinch of ground nutmeg.
- 17Add the spinach leaves.
- 18Cover the pan and cook on medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
- 19Lift the lid after 5 minutes.
- 20Add a teaspoon of butter and a few mint leaves (optional, but highly recommended for flavor).
- 21Discard the bay leaf and cinnamon stick before serving, and taste to adjust seasonings.
- 22Serve with hot steamed rice, roti, or naan.
Ingredients
- 615 gm boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into chunky pieces
- 265 gm spinach (only the leaves), chopped to get thin slivers
- 300 gm large onion
- 30 gm large garlic cloves
- 30 gm ginger
- 1 large tomato
- 1 green chilli
- 6 to 7 mint leaves
- 0.5 tsp whole black peppercorns
- 4 green cardamoms
- 4 cloves
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 1 inch length cinnamon stick
- 2 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder or paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp heaped ground coriander
- 0.5 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- 0.25 tsp ground nutmeg or jaifal powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp sour cream or heavy cream or plain unflavored yogurt
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 cup hot water
- 3 tbsp oil
Equipment
jarpan
Tips
- When grinding whole spices, they can be coarsely ground to avoid finding them in the meal, or they can be pushed to the side of the plate.
- When using yogurt instead of cream, stir it very well with 2 tablespoons of water before adding.
- Mint leaves add a lot of flavor; if you don't like mint, you can use chopped coriander instead.
- Discard the bay leaf and cinnamon stick before serving.
- Do a taste test and adjust seasonings if required.
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