Chicken Curry

Daniel made this Saturday, and it was awesome! I hope you like it. Chicken Curry is a staple in our house. (There are so many good recipes for chicken curry, so don't worry if you don't have these exact ingredients. We make substitutions all the time, sometimes for the better.)

Ingredients:

• chicken (a pound or two), chopped into small pieces (3/4 inch?)--we used breast tenders this time, and it was easy and so good, but thigh pieces are also very good in this. I've only used boneless, but it's good with bones.
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• curry leaves (five or six leaves, washed)
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 pinch turmeric
• 2 chopped tomatos (we used roma/plum)
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 T oil
• 2 cups water (can be extracted from your faucet)
• 2 tsp salt
• garnish: chopped corriander
  

For the Paste (curry paste):

• 2 tsp poppy seeds
• 4 dried red chillis (use your best judgement)
• 6 T grated coconut (optional)
• 1 tsp coriander seeds (or powder)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds (or powder)
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1" cinnamon stick (I think we used a tsp of powder)
• 2 whole cloves
• 2 green cardamoms (we used black powder)
• 2 tsp chopped ginger
  
• 2 tsp chopped garlic
• oil

Preparation:

1. Prepare the paste. We put the seeds in the coffee grinder, but I think you could just skip that step! But then fry all the "paste" ingredients in some oil, until it's all fragrant (turn on the exhaust fan). Spoon it out and set it aside.
   
2. Heat about 2 T of oil and fry the onions until golden brown.
   
3. Add curry leaves, chilly powder, turmeric powder, and "paste." Saute well.
   
4. Add chopped tomatos and fry till oil separates.
   
5. Add chicken pieces and saute. Add lemon juice, water, and salt. Cover and cook on medium low until chicken is fully cooked. (Daniel put the whole shabang in the pressure cooker after a couple of minutes in the skillet, and cooked it for "five whistles" on medium heat. I think that mkaes it really good.)
   
6. Garnish with chopped corriander leaves, if you so desire.
7. Serve with rice or chapatis.

If you're gonna reheat it the next day, we think it's better in the oven than the microwave. (Pyrex'll go in both.)