Chicken Curry with Yogurt

Photo: flickr user Sandy Austin

Ingredients

1 frying chicken

4 oz.s plain unsweetened yogurt

3 med. onions, sliced

4 lg. cloves garlic (4 individual sections), minced

1-inch piece ginger root, peeled and grated (don't eliminate this)

3 tbsp.s corn oil

2 tbsp.s butter (corn oil is okay, but

Preparation

Or equivalent amount of chicken pieces.

2-3 inch stick cinnamon

6 whole cloves

3 pods of cardamom, opened (optional)

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp. whole cumin seeds

1 tsp. turmeric (gives the yellow curry color)

1 tbsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. cayenne pepper, or to desired hotness

ALTERNATIVE: While I strongly recommend whole cloves and cinnamon sticks, you can use ground; 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of cloves. Add it at the very end when cooking is complete.

1. Blend half the sliced onions and 2 garlic cloves with the yogurt until the onion and garlic is completely pulverized. If you don't have a blender, fry all the onions as in step 3.

2. In a heavy fry pan (if you are going to use a crock pot) or a heavy Dutch oven, heat the oil, being careful it doesn't smoke. Brown the chicken; drain on paper towels. Pour off oil.

3. In the same frying pan or Dutch oven, melt the butter slowly until it stops bubbling. Now heat the butter until it is quite hot. Add the whole spices and fry for one minute or until the bay leaves and cumin seeds turn dark. Add the rest of the sliced onions and garlic and fry until the onions are golden. Add the grated ginger and the ground spices; fry for 15-20 seconds until they begin to stick. Add the yogurt mixture; mix thoroughly.

4. I prefer to cook this dish in a crock pot because I don't have to watch it. Put the chicken in the crock pot, pour over yogurt-spice mixture. You can either cook it on high for 3-4 hours or first cook it on high for 1 hour and then on low for 4-5 more hours. If you prefer, cook it in the Dutch oven, on low medium heat for about an hour, stirring frequently so it doesn't burn.

5. This dish will have lots of "gravy; " serve it with plain boiled rice. If you can get Indian Basmati rice, it is definitely worth it! Add an Indian-style salad, tomato chutney and a baked yogurt dessert and you have a meal.