Kadai Chicken is a popular dish which many of us wish to have in a restaurant. At least, it is my family’s one of the top favorites. It has a thick gravy and is a good accompaniment to both roti and rice.
My laptop is a mess and the control-freak, organized me was screaming in my head for the last few days. I was thus going through the pictures to sort and I found these. Oh My God! I had prepared this dish about an year ago and haven’t posted the recipe yet!
Memories started flooding my mind and I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face. More than the recipe or the dish itself, these pictures hold a place in my heart.
It was on one beautiful Sunday afternoon that P (my husband) had brought home a DSLR Camera. I was constantly and continuously pestering him on the idea of buying one and he got from friend so that I could get the hang of it. Well, I sucked! Big time and I let P do the photography.
Mildly flavored with spices, this recipe is easy to prepare. It’s flavor comes from the red gravy and the capsicums sauted along with onion and chicken.
“Oh, P! Focus on the food, please!!” 🙁
“But No! He loves the flowers that bloomed in his garden!”
It is called so because it is cooked in a Kadai or an Indian style wok.
- 500 gm Chicken boneless
- 1 cup water
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt as required
- 1 tbsp Peppercorns crushed
- 1 tbsp Peppercorns
- 1 tbsp Cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp Fennel seeds
- 3 Dry Red Chillies
- 1 Onion finely chopped
- 1 Onion quartered
- 2 Tomatoes pureed
- 1 Tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 Capsicum quartered
- 3 Green chillies split
- 2 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
- 1/2 tsp Red Chili powder
- 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
- 1/2 cup Chicken stock
- 2 tbsp oil
- Turmeric powder a pinch
- Kastoori Methi a pinch
- Salt as required
- Dry roast dried red chilies, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds on low flame. Cool and grind them to powder. This is Kadai Masala and you can keep the extra masala for later use.
- In a pressure cooker, boil water, garlic, salt, bay leaves and black peppercorns. Add chicken to it, mix well and pressure cook for a whistle. Reserve the water for chicken stock.
- Heat oil in a kadai and add finely chopped onions. Saute till golden.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and mix well.
- Add finely chopped tomato and cook till oil separates and the tomato gets mushed up and pasty.
- Add the masala powders (turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala and 1/2 tbsp of kadai masala) and mix well.
- Add tomato puree and mix. Cook covered for about ten minutes in low flame. Stir in between. Add chicken stock if it is too dry. (I wanted a dry version, hence did not add)
- When ready, add green chilies, quartered onions, tomato and capsicum. Mix well.
- Add chicken, kastoori methi, 1/2 tbsp of kadai masala, 1/2 cup chicken stock and cashew paste and mix well. Cook for another five minutes till the gravy thickens.
- Serve hot with rice or rotis.
