Palak chicken

When young, my mother would find great ideas to feed both my brother and me our required intake of green vegetables. So she would often cook Palak or spinach with chicken, so that it becomes impossible for us to ignore the same! However, with the passage of time, I began to love it and quite often cook the same at home. Needless to say, it tastes great. Or perhaps it is the memories that make the dish taste nicer. Well, you decide – try it and get back to us with your feedback.

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts (cut in medium-sized pieces)
• 3 chicken drumsticks
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 cup plain yoghurt/curd
• 1 bunch palak (spinach), washed and chopped
• 10 green chillies
• 2 medium onions
• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• A large piece ginger, minced
• 5-6 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp cashew nuts
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 2-3 cloves
• 2-3 cardamoms
• 2 tsp cumin-coriander powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder(optional)
• salt to taste
• 4-5 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

Procedure:

• Marinate chicken in dry spices and yogurt for about 1 hr.
• Heat 1-2 tbsp ghee and shallow fry chicken till cooked (Alternatively, brush it with some ghee and bake till cooked)
• Chop one onion
• Blend the other onion with spinach, nuts, tomato, ginger, garlic, green chillies, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom
• Heat the remaining ghee
• Fry chopped onion till translucent
• Now add the blended masala and fry for about 10-12 minutes till the ghee starts leaving the sides of the masala
• Add cumin-coriander powder and chilli powder(if using) and fry for a minute
• Add the chicken pieces and 1-2 cups of water
• Add salt to taste.
• Bring it to a boil on low heat.
• Garnish with chopped onions and serve