Chicken Fry

Hope all my US friends had a great labor day weekend! Its hard to believe our last 3 day weekend of the summer just got over and we are getting closer to the end of summer with each day. My daughter's school starts tomorrow. Am I excited?? I seriously don't know. The early morning rat race begins from tomorrow. Starting school after a long, lazy summer could be pretty stressful. But on the flip side, after all for kids what’s summer without crazy bedtimes, endless ice-creams, non-stop biking in the neighborhood, and getting soaked in the pool for hours — and it naturally can be hard to readjust when fall comes. I miss those summer vacations from my school. I wish my job also had a summer break(and still get paid).. he he..

On the other hand, my daughter is all excited about her new school year. She keeps coming up with questions like.. Mom, Who will be my teacher? Where will I sit? Are my friends going to be in my class? She is all set with her new school bag and drags it up and down our living room often in the day. She also pretends to be a teacher and disciplines her imaginary students.. That's her playtime favorite nowadays. I wish I was so enthusiastic like her :) Though fall routine haunts me, it also makes me feel good that my little girl is growing!

This weekend we had no big plans and mostly stayed home. Just planned a few things for the upcoming week and spent a few productive hours in the kitchen. Enjoyed our favorite traditional lunch for 2 days in a row with sambar, rasam, kootu, poriyal etc. Heavenly meal after a long time! And just to make the weekend more special, I made a chicken dish too. This is a very tasty chicken recipe that I learnt from my Mother-in-law. She makes it regularly and its one of her excellent dishes that I enjoy when made by her. After all these years of practice, I've now started almost duplicating her taste. But hers still holds the first place :) The ingredients list may seem to be longer, but the preparation is fairly simple as all of them get tossed in at the same time.

Ingredients

• Chicken thighs - 2 lbs ( I switch between boneless and with bones, but both are yummy)
• Ginger - 2 inches
• Garlic - 3 cloves (medium)
• Black Pepper seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Fennel seeds - 2 tsp
• Onions - 2 medium
• Corriander powder - 2 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
• Black pepper powder - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - a few
• Corriander leaves - a hand full

Procedure

• Coarsely grind (not too fine) 1/2 onion , Ginger, Garlic, Pepper seeds, Cumin seeds and the Fennel seeds. Add this to the chicken, then salt and pressure cook together until the chicken is cooked. (Add just enough water to cook the chicken).
• Heat oil in a thick bottom pan, season with 1 tsp fennel seeds, add the remaining chopped onions, curry leaves and corrainder leaves and fry until onion is well fried.
• Now add the cooked chicken mixture, all the remaining spice powders, mix well and turn the heat to high until the water from the chicken is almost fully evaporated.
• Now turn to medium heat and fry the chicken until its well roasted and turns into a dark brown color. Keep scraping in equal intervals to avoid burning. You can add a little extra oil if required.

Enjoy with Rotis or Rice.