Apricot jaggery sweet n sour chicken curry

A new day.

A new post. Hence, a brand new recipe , 

It's the humble bird tahts on my mind today. Foraging my fridge and some standby's in my cupboard conjure up this dish. Read it for sure, and then decide if you wanna dive into the sweet & sour complex depth of this, as this can be an accquired taste. The mother implored teh dish while me cooking it, the father appreciated at lunch table, and by next day the mother wanted more of it. Asking about me? Well, use less tsock/ water, keep it latpata, as they say for slight curry and enjoy this with roti/ parantha.

The list of ingredients isn't something for you to stress much about. These are your regular spices and aromatics. I suggest not using the store bought ginger & garlic paste, no matter how tied for time you are, also tomato purr or paste is not to be touched. If in case you do, nd this turns out to be a celebration of sourness on a plate; I am surely not to be blamed.

Now that I have blabbered quite much and distributed gyaan and in the process reprimended for things you haven't done yet, let's take baby steps to wards the lifeless bird cut into pieces and also the recipe:

1. I have about 1.2kg chicken on the bone, cleaned and kept aside. There is no marination in this, but yes, prfereable for some, please do have the skin on!

2. Slice up abour 260 gm onions, red one is avisable, white is good as well. Pound some fat cloves of garlic + 2" ginger together. We need about 2tbsp of ginger garlic paste. Chop up 200 gm tomatoes into chunks. Slit 6 green chillies, into half. Chop up the greens of spring onions, we need about a bowl of it. Snip 8-9 dried apricots and keep in a bowl.

3. Heat 4 tbsp mustard oil + 1 tbsp ghee in an earthen pan on a medium high flame. Add in 4 broken red chilli into the cold oil, and wait for it to warm up. As it warms up, throw in the whole spices: 3 bay leaves+ 6 green cardamom (crushed) +  2" cinnamon sticks+ 16-18 green peppercorns+ 8-10 cloves. Allow them spread their aroma. Keep an eye nothing should burn. Peel and quarter about 250 gms of potataoes.

4. In a bowl mix the following spices with couple of tablespoon of water to make it into a paste like consistency: 1 tsp turmeric paste+ 3.5 tsp chilli powder+ 2 tsp coriander powder + 2 tsp cumin powder.

5. Once the cardamoms fluffy up and the red chillies are about to turn dark maroon, add in the sliced onions. Add ina pinch of salt and allow the to cook till they soften. Cover it.

6. After about 5-7 mins, as they have softened, add in the g+g paste and mix well. The aroma is sure to stir your hunger. Fry for about 30 sec to 1 min, and then add in the chopped tomatoes and the slit green chillies. Mix, cover and allow it to cook till syrupy.

7. The tomatoes will disinterate in about 4-5 mins, then the spice mixed with water goes into it. Mix well. It's the water that stops it from burning. As always, cook them till the raw smell disappears and oil starts appearing on the sides. As that happens the chicken goes in. Stir really well to coat all the pieces in the spice mix.

8. As the chicken gets coated in the warm colours of the pan, time to add in the potatoes and the greens. MIx. Mix. Mix. Add in about 3tbsp of jaggery powder & the snipped apricots and keep bhuno-ing all the contants of the pan, till all the water evaporates and oil appears on the sides of the pan.

9. The drying up is followed by some watering. About 2.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar is added and given a good mix. Adjust seasoning at this end. I added in couple of more slit chillies at this stage. And about 1.5 cups of warm water + 1 no chicken stock cube. Mix. Cover and cook for about 15 mins or till its almost done.

10. The last step is to cook it uncovered for 8-10 mins more. Sprinkle in approx 3tsp garam masla powder and mix. Once the gravy has reached desired consistency and the chicken is cooked through, take it off the hob. top it with some chopped chillies & spring onion greens. Job is done well.

I had it with rice. Piping hot, with a raw onion on the side and a queeze of Gondhoraj lime. That is essential. But in case if your lencheon doesnt need the presence of rice, chapati or parantha is better pairing with this dish for sure, me thinks so! You are free to choose your vehicle. What works best for me is the sourness of fruity vinegar that works fab with the complexity of spices. The jaggery provides it with depth, a hint of balanced sweetness, while the fiery heat works in the background. The snipped baubles of apricot disintegrates into the gravy, which lends it a call from the mystic lands.

Every bite of this broth is sure to bring your sense to life. Life is nothing but an amalgamation of all of them.

And now for some more gyaan:

a. In case earthen wear is unavilable, a nonstick just works fine. so no worries in there.

b. Green peppercorns are not something to eb available in every kitchen, I am well aware of it! So now? Black peppercorns, what else! ( it's just a matter of stages in ripeness)

c. The amount of chilli or heat added to this dish in various forms is a bit on the higher side. I understand. So make it your own and manipulate the quantity.

d. You can fry your potatoes if you wish to. I sizzled mine in a hot tawa/griddle ith a tiny bit of ghee to get the edges crispper.

e. The dark red syrupy gravy is all that you need for a winters night. It's the jaggery that weaves it's magic here. Oh yes!! Some chicken with skin on must be added. It adds to the umami. I promise!!

To me, this is finger looking good, I am not lying. Also if you take my advice investing in the earthen wear isn't a abd idea, also it is a matter of few hundreds only. Think about it? It's not uncool in any way to emrace your ageold traditons. It's rather cool and also you are the one to reap the benefits of it. Not to forgte the flavours.

And yes, I hve delivered my promise this time. Therea re image sof most of the steps as well. Let em know what you think of the narration, the images, the recipe and the taste. While I busy myself in perfecting soe more recipes for you scroll up and the read the recipe again. that's the first step before you hit teh kitchen.

Chow!