Dish #404 - "Dhabewali Chicken Curry" @ Home - Simple North Indian Highway Style

"Dhaba's" are the roadside shacks/hotels/restaurants on North Indian highways which serve freshly made local cuisine.
The dhaba's on the road from Delhi to Jaipur/Chandigarh, Patna to Darjeeling, Ranchi to Nepal, Delhi to Varanasi/Haridwar/Dehradun/Shimla have some amazing dhaba's where the food is lip smacking good and also hygienic.

In Southern Indian we rarely find "dhaba's" and the few are replaced by McD and Cafe Coffee day.

Anyway for those who have done lot of road trips in North India, would have surely eaten this chicken curry with fresh "Phulkas". You will find this curry at almost all of the dhabas that line the highways in northern India.
Easy to make, no fuss recipe which also goes perfectly with steaming Basmati rice.
Got a few tips on this recipe from a chef friend, but did a few attempts with my own trials and errors to perfect it...
Here goes....


Serves - 4-6
Ingredients:
Chicken - 1 kg, cut into medium pieces (with bone)
Onions - 4 - large
Garlic - 4 cloves
Ginger - fresh - 1-inch piece - peeled and chopped
Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons 
Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon 
Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon 
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 4 - crushed 
Green cardamom - 2 crushed
Turmeric - 1/4 teaspoon 
Tomato - 3 - medium sized - puree'd 
Garam masala - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
water - 1 cup
Coriander leaves - fresh -1 handful - chopped

Method:
In a food processor, chop the onions. Add the garlic and ginger and process until they are finely chopped.
In a large heavy bottomed deep pan, heat the vegetable oil. Add the coriander, cumin, red chilly, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, garam masala and fry over low heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the onion mixture and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the raw smell goes away and mixture is golden brown. Add the turmeric, salt and tomato puree and simmer over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.
Add the chicken and some salt if required, 1 cup water. Cover and cook for 25-30 minutes till chicken is done.
Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with the chopped coriander and serve with Basmati rice or Indian breads like Phulkas/Naan.