Basic chicken curry

Spanning roadside stall specials to multistar menus, there is an impressiveness in molten, sienna colored wellfragranced gravies, replete with protein, served straight over hot rice and/or flatbread. So splendid it definitely demands regular rounds at weekly dinner tables. A simple curried chicken that takes comfort in a bowl or in this case, plate to a whole new level.

Of course, you shouldn't let the word basic undermine the fantasticness of what's been set before you today. This is special, your welcome door to the tastes of the Southeast Asian part of the world. What most people, especial of India, get handed down from generations combined, you will receive in this quick 100 word/ three minute read(even shorter if you ace speed-read).

Just know you're bound to find as many versions of chicken curry alone, as there are people in the Indian subcontinent. Maybe an exaggeration, maybe not. A mix of onions, chilies, garlic, ginger, and melange of spice rendered into the cooking pan at separate intervals, plus or minus a few others, can produce thousands of possibilities, all combinations that can scoot under the  "curry" umbrella.  Wet, or dry, it may be named after the dish it's cooked in, from the area it was invented in, the amount of spices it should be roasted in, so on and so forth. We've even spotlighted The Illustrious 65, where the number of theories that make the name are as popular as the dish. 

Today, we go through a fundamental, easily digestible (Yes. Pun!) curry construct, a workflow that doesn't require a whole lot of substeps. This can be the foundation to more advanced concoctions. Of course, there is a certain magnificence in a well rounded, straightforward, tremendously good curry. And I believe I have perfected the art to it.

So, shall we begin?

Fiery red chillies, pops of mustard seeds and beneficial coconut lend not only depth of flavor, but fantastic texture, as well. Onions, curry leaves and a crush of all the right spices add body and aroma, while meat juices with help from a cup of water bring in a gravy, stocky enough to cling to pieces and not so insubstantial for pieces to play hide and seek.

A point to take along in task; when cooking large amounts of nonmarinaded white meat, chances are it will taste just like that...white meat..swimming in sauce, and so not ever a good thing. You want those elements that endow to the masala mix to combine and coalesce in a long-ish cook time, essential for flavors to hinge on to meat and and have your house smell like a first-class Indian restaurant.  

Don't be overwhelmed with the component number required in making this onepot wonder. Most of it's tossed in quick succession, building on and balancing a flavor index that takes you from raw spice to rightful curry perfection. Bonetender pieces get inundated with unbeatable kick and well rounded warmth, so utter you'll need to doublepat yourself on the back . 
  
Give it a try. A few times over and you may find you're eligible to compete in Master Chef, Indian edition. Or just smitten with a new favorite chicken dinner you can't get enough of. Either way, it's a win-win. 

Think fresh, people. Don't plow the depths of your refrigerator looking for that end piece of ginger/onion/garlic that's seen better days.

Chicken curry~

Ingredients:

• 2-3 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 crushed cloves
• 1 crushed cardamom
• 2 crushed peppercorns
• 2 medium sized red onions, sliced thin
• 1 tsbp finely chopped ginger
• 2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 3 serrano peppers, sliced in half
• handful curry leaves
• 1-2 tbsp red chili powder(cayenne pepper)
• 3 tbsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• 1 tomato, diced
• ¼ cup unsweetened, frozen coconut slices, thawed at room temperature (optional)
• 1 lb skinned, bone-in whole chicken, cut into 2 " pieces 
• ½ to 1 cup water
• ¼ tsp garam masala
• 2-3 sprigs cilantro

Directions:

• Heat oil in a large dutch oven or heavy based pan.
• Add mustard seeds, cloves, cardamom, pepper corns. Allow the seed to pop.
• Add sliced onions, saute tll translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
• Add ginger, garlic, serrano, half the curry leaves. Stir until ginger garlic cook through, 1-2 minutes.
• Add cayenne, coriander, cumin, turmeric and tomato. Saute for a minute.
• Stir in coconut.
• Put in cut chicken pieces. Combine with the onion-spice mixture over high heat.
• Add water. Allow the chicken mixture to boil on high.
• Once it comes to boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 35-40 minutes on a low flame. Open lid to stir at regular intervals. 
• When chicken is tender, stir in garam masala and turn off heat
• Sprinkle in the remaining curry leaves, along with cilantro.
• Serve hot with rice or Indian flatbread, such as naan, chappathi.

~Add water according to the consistency and amount of gravy you need. I use upto 1 1/2 cups at times. 
~The above is a general spice guideline. I like to adhere to the adage (mine), a bit more spice makes everything nice :-) and am especially partial to the heat renderers, plenteous amounts of cayenne and peppers, particularly in this chicken which give it color as well as a good build of flavor. Play around with what works for you...it could translate from a pretty good curry to an astoundingly great one.
~What is garam masala? Translated as hot mixture, this is a blend of spices common to Indian cooking and usually consists of a combination of cinnamon or cassia bark, cumin seeds, cardamom, fennel, cloves, star anise, bay leaves. The spices are ground to powder form in either a spice mill, grinder or coffee bean grinder(preferably one not used for coffee) and can be stored in airtight containers. No time to mill and grind? Find it right here.

This has forever been in that extremely long list of recipes that I do and wish to surely, if not slowly unbundle here. To punch out a draft that's spent so long in queue seems Herculean at times. Picture taking faces many odds. Curry is rarely photogenic. Light becomes The Issue when cooking ends late and Fall decides to deduct daylight from my life. And I am so not in the mood to click what I could just be eating. Right. At. That. Moment. Ah the reasons! But then we come through, here be the finished product and a fairly pixellated page that looks decent enough to have it's screen debut. 
God is good.  All the Time

1 year ago: Besan laddoo

3 years ago: Omeluffin

******

Supermoon/bloodmoon eclipse 2015 and some Redrocks staring at my lens. Prettiness that my camera occasionally gifts me must always be shared.

 "When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?" Psalm 8:3,4

Cashew chicken curry

I bet we can all agree on how rushed-quick the past 10 months of 2016 flashed through, much like the incredible hero scenes from Barry Allen's secret  life.  Right? Right. And if you can't, let's not take this to word. Just nod along and pretend you do.

We  are at second to last holiday of the year, one which reminds us to live in thanks, is opener to THE most extensive meal our plates have seen in 364 days and official  kickoff to the yuletide season. Not to mention the joyride of weeklong leftovers that everyone looks forward to all year long. This, in less than four days, and here I am between bouts of panic and absolute procrastination swims. What do I do? Probably as I type this, keeping my mind at ease in the knowledge of saving precious refrigerator space for the few days working up to The Great Feast. 

And so we go on to more pressing things in life.

The time you visit the neighborhood Indian restaurant and order a meal, possibly(?) better than some things you've ever made, and you begin to question your existence. I know. I try shamelessly to plug my stellar cooking mastery here, (thank you for putting up with the ego parade) and it is hard to admit great food might exist outside the confines of my kitchen. Ahh, did I just say THAT?! You know, we don't need to repeat everything I say. Please.

Things happen when people who live under your roof, whom you feed, clothe, care for and rightfully demand loyalty from, claim that a menu produced the most excellent thing they have ever tasted. It gets personal. And offensive. You forget the 14 pound turkey you were supposed to buy yesterday and get to work on restoring your reputation.

Not that comparable results haven't passed through this kitchen, with some chronicled into plating here. But it is hard to be outmatched by an item on an order list of 20 things that people make at least 50 times a day. 

To recreate/remaster/reclassify a masterful carte du jour, and similar renditions that I've probably eaten my way through countless times than recalled, became my mission, right after my midday nap/yoga/run or whatever initiative my mind had been preset to.

I've gone into the variables of what can make a masala medley magnificent (sounds nice, right?). As is it's without doubt, totally one's own jurisdiction to whether onions, garlic, ginger merely coalesce, mildly mingle or strongly stampede, decisions to turn your own Indian cuisine borderline meh or an arrant outrageous.

Chicken is good. Curry is good. Chicken curry is very very good. And innumerable kinds and types should be, always are needed, welcomed, and greatly applauded.

Cashew chicken curry as I would like to call it, possesses an old world grand. Almost like a throwback to how glorious Central Asian cuisine could actually be. It bears a stamp from medieval India, of those regal Mughals and their spiced loaded, crazy aromatic gastronomics . Other recipes that c. chicken curry can be pen named under: Chicken Korma, Rezala, or Mughlai chicken. I really am no pundit in ranking curry, though I believe I am the best you would probably come to know(😀).  I do, however, know that this can ideally be that meal fit for kings.

It is quite indisputably a feast. For the eyes. For the belly. And though it may sound cliche, for the very depths of your soul.

There is comfort in the velvet cream of cashews and spices pasted. Quick heat renders meat pieces a true envied char. The steeping in topnotch ingredients, somewhere, somehow brings us to beauteous curry making reality A distinctive, air-scenting finish becomes the thick, luxe end-all we so clearly associate as the accompaniment to rice/ naan dishes in formal or less formal settings. It is magnificence that should be lauded in the courts of any layman's dining room.

Don't let the expansive ingredient list scare you. It might be shocking to see how a mere (no smirking) 27 ingredients come together, in perfect harmony, while still pulling off what's arrogantly impressive. Which definitely works in any favor, as your home cook status gives way to chef magnifique, and those many revisits hereafter will make you master of a cultish curry cuisine.

An assembly of The Superior, ready to coalesce on to the perfect destination.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ pounds skinned, bone-in chicken, cut into 1- 1/2 inch pieces
• 2-4 tbsp red chili powder or cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp turmeric
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt
• ½ inch piece peeled ginger, roughly chopped
• 6 whole cloves garlic
• 4-5 sprigs cilantro
• 1 sprig mint
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tbsp coriander powder
• ¼ cup cashews soaked in ½ cup water
• 1/4 cup tbsp cooking oil(I use canola)
• 1 whole star anise
• pinch fennel seeds
• 1 small stick cinnamon
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 large red onion finely chopped
• water(upto 1- 1/2 cups)
• salt
• ¼ cup plain nonfat yoghurt
• ½ tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp sugar
• ¼ cup half and half
• chopped cilantro(2-3 sprigs) for garnish

Directions:

• Marinade chicken with red chili powder, black pepper, turmeric, lemon juice and salt. Keep aside for 15- 30 minutes to half an hour.
• Meanwhile, process the ginger, garlic, cilantro,  mint, cumin, coriander, cashews with water in a food processor or mini prep until a smooth paste forms.
• Heat oil in dutch oven/large deep set skillet. Add chicken and deep brown on all sides of pieces for about 7-10 minutes. Pieces do not have to cook through.
• Take out chicken from oil and set aside.
• Crush star anise, fennel seeds, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom in mortar and pestle. Add to the oil used for chicken, in the pan.
• Stir in onions on medium heat. Cook until soft.
• Pour in the ground paste. Add a small amount of water into the blender vessel to shake clean any leftover paste. Pour this into pan.
• Saute ingredients until moisture evaporates,  mixture is fragrant and color changes to a pale green/brown, about 5-7 minutes. 
• Add chicken. 
• Add remaining water.
• Add salt to taste.
• Bring ingredients to boil on high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow to cook for an additional 25 minutes.
• Stir in yoghurt until blended with curry.
• Add garam masala, sugar. Stir.
• Pour in half and half.  Mix once and turn off heat.
• Sprinkle with cilantro.
• Serve warm with green rice, white rice, naan, maybe even K parotta Anything that spins your orbit.

Notes:

If you desire to inhale higher levels of heat, upto inferno, by all means marinade with more red chili powder(cayenne).

Past Novembers~

2015: Stuffed acorn squash

2014: Chili roasted cauliflower

2013: PB Oreo blondies

2012: North Kerala stuffed chicken

 The star that perks the overall scene.

A few decades ago( it surprises me how long I've lived) I'd visit a restaurant that served a similar, if not better cashew creamed curry. My friend took me there to perk me up after a particularly hard day. Yes, people, it had already begun, where food was solution to all my world problems. For a year or so, it became a routine for us. So also, memories that would last a lifetime. A friend that would too. Love you Ranikutty❤️

We love moon watching. And the super one that came up November 13,14 had me taking over 1000 pictures. Because people. I really have nothing to do. I played with different shutter speeds, apertures. I don't know if any of this constitutes as good photography, but it made for some very enjoyable bonding time with my tribe.
******
John 1:3

Yes. All pictures taken by me. Tisa Jacob. Do not borrow without asking. Not nice. Thanks:-)

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Chicken Wings "65"

 I love chicken wings, fried and crispy to the bone. Often coated with the requisite buffalo sauce, on occasion swaddled in a a sweet/sour melange. Though, sometimes when I want to reach that flavor crescendo that can only satisfy mine and my family's Indian taste buds, I adapt my wings to the fine tune of the legendary Chicken 65.

Chicken 65 is a preparation in which flavored chicken pieces, usually boneless, are batter fried and topped with tempered seasonings. Critics may say that wings aren't used in this recipe ; but that's the joy of cooking- adapting recipes to accommodate your preference, your ideas and also what you have stored in your refrigerator or pantry, all without demolishing the overall structure and taste of that particular recipe.

When I first put together a batch of my chicken wing 65, it was an instant hit, wonderfully crisp, crusted and well flavored pieces of chicken.

Now, you may be wondering what the number  65 has to do with chicken. Chicken 65 is steeped in mystery as to how the name was sourced. The different theories surrounding it include the 65 chilis purportedly used in its making, to 65 being the age of the first chef who came up with the dish. Whether you want to assume that it had 65th place on the restaurant menu of Chennai's Hotel Buhari or if 1965 was the year it was first produced is a matter of opinion and choice. I am in favor of believing the hotel theory, as JZ regales childhood tales of visiting Buhari's on Mount Road, after many a late night movie, holding the hand of his mom just to consume the famed menu item, # 65. 

The varying ways of making the dish are as numerous as the stories themselves. Almost always chicken pieces are dredged in a spice/flour mix, and topped with a further sizzle of seasoned ingredients.

The chicken wings here get a supplementary squeeze of lemon and a good swathe of tomato ketchup to balance out flavor.

So here we go, chicken wings done in my own "65" rendition :

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs. chicken wings

Marinade for the chicken:

• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• *1/2 inch piece ginger, roughly chopped 
• *2 tsp roughly chopped garlic
• 1 serrano pepper (green chili), de-seeded
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt

For frying:

• *2  cups  oil 

Seasoning and coating:

• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 2 shallots, diced small
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method :
Wings

• Remove the tips of the wings and discard. Using a knife, separate the wings at the joint, so you have 2 pieces for each wing. 
• In a mini processor, process ginger, garlic, and serrano until a smooth paste forms.
• In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for the marinade- from the yogurt to the salt (including the ginger/garlic/serrano mixture) until smooth and blended. Evenly coat wing pieces in this. Keep aside for 30 minutes.
• Heat 2 cups of oil in a deep sided pan or fryer. Check if oil is ready- tested either by a deep fry thermometer( 350°-365°F) or when bubbles form around the end of a wooden spoon immersed in the oil.
• Add the wings in batches, 6-8 at a time (do not crowd pan), keeping flame medium-high. Fry till all sides are golden brown and meat is cooked through.
• After each batch, make sure oil is at an optimum temperature before adding the next batch.
• Continue process until all the wings are fried.
• Drain wings on paper towels.

Seasoning:

• Heat oil in a small skillet, add in mustard seeds.
• When the seeds begin to pop, add shallots and curry leaves. Fry till browned and crisp. 
• Take off heat, mix in lemon juice and ketchup. Combine well.

Pour over the warm chicken wings and serve.

Notes: 

Use ginger/garlic paste, ready made and jarred, found in the Asian foods aisle or Indian specialty grocers. I make my own, processing larger amounts of ginger, garlic, mixed with some lemon juice or a tiny bit of vinegar. It can keep up to a week or two in the refrigerator.

For frying, my first option is peanut oil, next would be canola.

When serving these wings at your next gathering, you can be assured that this preparation will reel in the compliments as well as some good conversation.

Some imaginative and well known chicken 65 speculations:

The meat comes from 65 day old chickens.

There were 65 different spices used in it's making.

It was first served in a Kerala bar in 1965.

First served in a roadside hotel on the Punjab National Highway 65.

The flour and yogurt dredged chicken came about as a quick meal solution for Indian soldiers during the 1965 Indo-Pak war.

65 was the age of the first waiter to have served the now illustrious dish.

Theories abound, if you know more, do include some in your comments, I would love to hear them.
                                                                               
                                                                      ****


Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:17,18,19 (NLT)

Masala Fried Chicken

I choose not to pigeonhole this recipe as curry, but it could be just that. Curry - in fried, zestfully sizzled form, tailed with Indian masala. 

Masala fried chicken is what I call it.

Why? I'll tell you

a) I came up with the recipe several years ago, made it on numerous occasions, but it really doesn't have a name. (This post officially covers the naming ceremony).

b) It is fried, with peeks of garam masala.

In India, we have many creative approaches when it comes to transforming your everyday poultry. A curry can be devised as a vehicle to fashion chicken in a pantheon of innovative ways- spicy, sweet, sour, dry, saucy, more masala, less spice, onions sliced, onions ground, tomatoes in , tomatoes out, the list goes on.

This particular one is just one of those ways...my culinary nod to taste, guess and make- intense desire to replicate gloriousness after trying it, in a Chicage restaurant(?). Or was it the random appetizer had at some random dinner party where I was a random houseguest? Maybe, it came from the recesses of my mind, an expressive cooking accident result, when my lazy self, did not feel the need to unload a whole pantry of ingredients to make one simple chicken fry (the general elaborateness of Indian dishes can be a good thing if time, propensity permit). I honestly think it's a coalition of  all three.

Knowing that, this fried chicken is dressed in scant spices. Coated chicken pieces, along with crisped onions, a handful of adjusting ingredients finetunes into a dry- curried synthesis. Incidentally, that is exactly what lends to its remarkable South Indian flavor.

Dashes of pepper, a pinch of turmeric, and a few sprinkles of the garam will transport you through the ultimate flavored poultry experience of all time. 

The platter is one of my son's favorites. Z, who, unlike the rest of us, does not enjoy bucketloads of spice. Despite the army of serranos amassing its frame, which for the fainter- palated can be deseeded or replaced with milder cousin, jalapeno, this dish really does not tip to fire-breathing heights.

Further tasting and inevitable finger licking might have you doing somersaults, perhaps boldly proclaim a beyond-love of Indian cooking. Moreover, the guests you serve this to, will be enchanted, hailing you as the consummate guru of the creative Indian kitchen. 

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. cut up chicken (2 inch pieces; preferably bone-in thigh )
• 2 tbsp black pepper (freshly ground preferred)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric 
• 1 tsp salt
• 12 serranos (or jalapenos)
• 12 cloves garlic
• 2 inch piece ginger
• 1/4 cup oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp salt or more to season
• 1 handful cilantro (chopped fine)

Method:

• Coat chicken pieces in black pepper, turmeric, salt.
• Crush or grind serranos, garlic and ginger together, slight chunky but well combined. 
• Heat oil on medium flame. Place chicken pieces a few at a time in oil. Fry through until pieces are golden and cooked through, covering pan occasionally so that they get evenly cooked.
• Repeat until all chicken pieces are fried. Take out and drain on paper towels.
• In same oil, fry onions until light brown, past translucent stage, about 4 minutes.
• If much oil remains, take out excess using a ladle. Let enough remain to saute the final ingredients ( about 1-2 tablespoons).
• Saute garlic, ginger, serrano mixture till soft and cooked (about 3 minutes). Add in tomatoes and cook through for an additional minute.
• Switch to medium - low flame, put in the fried chicken pieces. Mix in garam masala, black pepper, salt and cilantro. Combine well.
• Take off flame.
• Serve warm.

Feeds a group of 4-6 hungry guests. It is delicious with roti (Indian bread) or ghee rice( shown below, post coming soon) but sides most well with parboiled Kerala rice . 

I want to thank the very gracious editors of Yummly who handpicked my mango custard post to be featured on their Mango Madness page. So fun to be "certified yummly"!

******

I read devotions/blessings posted by Susie Larson on a daily basis. She is a radio host, author and Christian speaker who heartens many with her beautiful messages and daily inspirations. I want to pass on a piece of the encouragement that has been a blessing to me, nourishing my soul and speaking truth to my heart.

"May you raise your arms and praise God for His faithfulness to you. May you open your hands and receive what He so lovingly wants to give. May you look past your circumstances and see Jesus who reigns over all. And may you move forward in faith knowing all things are possible through Him." ~Taken from Susie Larson's End Of Day Blessing.

(Air) Fried chicken biriyani and cucumber-tomato raita

If anyone were to ask me which dish would be the perfect introduction to Indian cuisine, the reply would, undoubtedly, be biriyani.

Interject here, that it could/should/ would be my absolute last meal on earth, if circumstance allows me the privilege.

From distant Persian beginnings, biriyani/biryani/biriani- till the day I really don't know how it's written,- bears a variety of flavor allegiances to the regions, communities, people, even chefs that have touched and tweaked upon its blueprint. Essentially, there are as many interpretations of biriyani in India as there are cities on the country's map.

It's a celebration of all that is desi food. To the deep colors, layers of curried masala and perfumed specifics of rice, this could be the poster child for the all-in-one meal, transcending borders, perhaps the answer to world peace.

However,  in most cases construction of the slow cooked rice and protein platter has many constants, factors which remain consistent, despite the innumerable styles in which it is made.
These would be-
Whole spices, such as cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, mace
Immense amounts of ginger and garlic
Fragrant long grain rice
Onions

Typically,  biriyani includes a protein slow cooked in a substantial gravy, which in turn is layered with par-cooked rice. This is further simmered in a cooking form/art called "dum"- where ingredients are sealed in vessel, with a dough around the lid to create foolproof flavor penetration.

A dish usually slow cooked in a flour covered pot is hard to make shortcuts with, but because I aim to make life easy, mine/yours, and my air fryer needed to be put to a much better use than heating tortillas, it came to this.

The Le Creuset is paramount in doing high capacity meals such as this one. It does justice to pounds of meat that require tenderizing and juice oozing in one go. If I really need the dum effect, aluminum foil-lined under the lid does the trick.

The chicken, being fried, adds a whole new dimension to texture. It lends bite as well as flavor to biriyani's base foundation. The composition of browned onions and numerous aromatics working in unison, brilliantly execute a perfect chicken and rice combo. If you don't know already, frying makes things addictively delicious, another reason you can't deny eating right out of the pot.

The learning curve for biriyani isn't all that steep. Once you get it, you literally have the magic wand of A-class, fit-for-royalty casserole making at your disposal.

In finale, opening the lid, and inhaling what lies within will be the best" wait for it" scenario you've ever experienced. A glorious production that makes you look like you've slaved over it all day.

Eat it warm. It's excellent with hard boiled eggs as a finisher on top and improves in leftover quality. 
Serve it with yoghurt raita( below).

But by all means, try it... and eat it in the way that makes you happiest.

Biriyani~
Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 6 mint sprigs
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 3-5 serrano peppers, depending on level of heat desired (seeds out if preferred)
• 4 tbsp roughly chopped garlic
• 1 inch ginger, roughly chopped 
• 1-2 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ginger power
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp turmeric
• salt
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup cashews
• water
• 1 pound skinless split chicken thighs, cut into 3 inch pieces
• 1 ½ cups basmati rice
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 whole yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 1 2 inch cinnamon stick
• 1 piece mace
• 2 cloves
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 star anise
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• ¼ cup plain nonfat yoghurt
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 4 tbsp ghee
• ¼ cup raisins

Directions:

• Blend together lemon juice,  mint,  3/4 cup cilantro, serranos, garlic and ginger into a smooth paste. A fews splashes water may be needed to create the desired level of smooth. Set aside.
• In a bowl coat chicken with the powdered spices, from chili to turmeric. Add salt and two tablespoons of oil. Cover pieces evenly with marinade.
• Set aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Soak 1/4 cup cashews in 1/2 cup water. Heat in microwave for 1- 1 1/2 minutes until softened. Blend to a paste and keep aside.
• Set temperature in air fryer at 390°F.
• Place chicken in wired tray or basket of air fryer. Spray with nonstick cooking oil. Set timer for 10 minutes.
• When browned on the sides, take out and flip pieces to the other side. Place tray back in and cook for 12-15 minutes until cooked and crisped brown. Keep pieces aside.
• Soak basmati in water sufficient to immerse grains.
• Separately, over high heat, add bay leaves, salt  to 4 quarts of water and bring water to a boil.
• Rinse out rice and add it to the simmering water.  Bring back to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
• Drain immediately. It should be parboiled and about 75% done.
• In a heavy(preferably cast iron) 5 qt or larger dutch oven, heat remaining oil. 
• Add onions until translucent.
• Take out a quarter of the onions(1/4) and keep aside. 
• Lightly crush the cinnamon, mace, cloves, cardamom, star anise in a mortar and pestle, or even using the flat side of a knife against a cutting board.
• Add the spice mixture to the onions in the pan. Stir until the onions are translucent.
• Stir in the blended garlic- ginger paste. Saute until cooked all ingredients are cooked.
• Add tomatoes and chili powder. Saute.
• With heat at medium, pour in 1 cup of water and bring ingredients to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add in ground cashews and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Put about half of the chicken pieces in the gravy. Stir in garam masala. 
• Lightly whip yoghurt with a spoon and mix into the curry. Bring the heat down to medium low for this step.
• Add salt. Simmer for 6-8 minutes.
• Layer the parboiled rice on top of the simmering chicken curry.  Pour 3 three tablespoons ghee on top of the rice. Place lid on( it should be a heavy, tight fitted lid, if not cover the mouth of the pot with foil, then place lid over it. Allow curry to cook for 2-3 minutes at medium heat. 
• Reduce heat to low, keep pot covered and cook for 20-25 minutes.
• Remove from burner.
• In a saucepan, heat the remaining tablespoon of ghee.
• Fry the reserved partly cooked onions until brown and crisp. Take out and set aside. 
• Add remaining 1/4 cup cashews Fry until brown. Set aside. 
• Fry raisins until swollen. Set aside.
• Open the lid and either flip the dish carefully over a large platter. I fork it through so that you get nice pieces of curry stained rice and chicken throughout.
• Top biriyani with the remaining fried chicken pieces, fried onions, cashews and raisins.
• Garnish with the remaining cilantro.
• Serve with cucumber-tomato yoghurt raita.

Cucumber-tomato yoghurt raita~

Ingredients:

• 1 cup nonfat plain yoghurt
• salt
• ½ cup chopped English cucumber
• ½ cup chopped tomatoes
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

• Whisk yoghurt with salt, until smooth and creamy
• Stir in the remaining ingredients.
• Serve as a side.

Notes:

I like bone-in chicken for deeper flavor. However, boneless will work perfectly well.

Rice recipes~

Fish and shrimp biriyani

Green rice

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“I came to Him because I did not know which way to turn. I remained with Him because there is no other way I wish to turn. I came to Him longing for something I did not have. I remain with Him because I have something I will not trade. I came to Him as a stranger. I remain with Him in the most intimate of friendships. I came to Him unsure about the future. I remain with Him certain about my destiny. I came amid the thunderous cries of a culture that has 330 million deities. I remain with Him knowing that truth cannot be all-inclusive.”

- Ravi Zacharias (1946-2020), quoted from his book, Jesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message 

"Teach us to number our days,  that we may have a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12