Chicken Masala

This is a pretty simple chicken masala recipe. In Indian cuisine, masala usually means the dish has curry powder in it and is spicy. The curry powder I use is from home. I have yet to try this recipe with a curry powder you find in stores, but the curry powder I use is red rather than yellow and is spicy because it has chili powder mixed in. Unfortunately, I’m not very familiar with the curry powders you can find in stores but I’m sure it’ll work just as well!

For the onion, you can really use red or white. I have tried both but personally prefer red onions because they’re more like the onions I use back home. As far as fennel seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, and cloves go, you don’t HAVE to use all of them. If you don’t like cloves, take them out! These ingredients basically flavor the oil.

I’m really not the best cook and my estimations are often off (a lot of my quantities here are estimated) so hopefully you are a decent cook (of course you are!) and can judge the amounts as you go. I think I estimated pretty well this time though.

Ingredients:

For Marinade:

1 tbsp Curry powder

1 tsp Ginger powder

1 tsp Garlic powder

1 to 2 tbsp Honey (just enough to make a thick paste when mixed together. I say 1 to 2 because I can’t remember exactly.)

1 tsp Salt

For the Rest:

Vegetable oil or cooking oil (not olive oil)

½ tsp Cumin seeds

½ tsp Fennel seeds

1 stick Cinnamon, cut into 2 or 3 pieces (I like to sort of whack it with the blade of the knife because you can’t really cut a stick of cinnamon like you cut a green bean. If it’s not too strong, you can also just break the stick by hand).

8-10 whole Cloves

Onion, chopped (I would say about a quarter of an onion considering how HUGE onions are here)

4 Chicken breasts

Procedure:

Cut chicken breasts into cubes (I like to cut them into roughly ¾ inch cubes) and set aside.

Combine curry powder, ginger powder, garlic powder, and salt. Add honey to form a paste. Mix marinade into chicken (I just use my hands to mix it in a bowl). Transfer to a ziploc bag and allow chicken to marinate as long as you like. If you don’t have time to let the chicken marinate for a long time, no worries! It works just as well if you don’t let it sit.

When you’re ready to cook it all up, heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a frying pan (less oil if you’re using a non-stick pan). Add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cinnamon, and cloves. Toss it around a little, the cinnamon stick will get darker. Then add the onions and cook until the onions start to change color. Finally add the chicken cubes and cook until the meat is cooked through.

P.S.
If you like drumsticks and wings, you can use this recipe as well. Just don’t cut the chicken into cubes, and be prepared to cook the chicken longer. Also I would suggest covering the chicken while it’s cooking so as not to burn the outside while trying to cook the inside. Sometimes liquid will collect because the pan is covered; so just take the cover off when the chicken is almost cooked to dry up the liquid.

Also, feel free to experiment with quantities for the marinade. Those are just the quantities I think I use.