Indian Cashew Nut Chicken Curry - Kaju Murg Masala

Kaju Murg Masala

The wife was away to her mother's place for the day.And it being a public holiday, I was thinking what to do to keep myself occupied.I am quite restless and cant sit at one place for some minutes together.The answer, as always, lay in the kitchen.I wanted to cook a Cashew Nut,Raisin based Chicken Curry with some Bengali fried rice for lunch. But being alone is a spoil sport.Needed some company for sure.But most bachelor friends were surely asleep and it wasn't quite right to pull the married folks from their wives and surely I would be slammed then!So, I texted to a couple of friends regarding the situation and around an hour later one of them replied that he will be coming.And that made the day for sure.
We had a sumptous lunch over some beer and it was an excellent bachelors' afternoon - One that we would like to repeat again.

The recipe behind preparing a successful Cashew Nut Chicken is here.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 2 hours marination.
Cooking Time: 1 hr 15 mins

Preparation:
Ingredients:
Chicken  - 600 gms.On the bone.
Vinegar - 2 tb sp
Vegetable Oil - 2 tb sp
Salt - to taste
Turmeric powder -  2 tsp
Procedure:
Mix all the above ingredients and keep in the open for 2 hours.

Ingredients:
The marinade
Onion - 200 gms.Cut longitudinally.
Ginger - One 2 inch piece.Crushed.
Garlic - 5 -6 cloves.crushed.
Tomato - 1 medium sized.Made into a fine paste.
Potato(Optional): 1 big(100gms) sliced into 2 halves.I love potatoes used in Chicken/Mutton Curries
Cashew Nut Paste: 4 tb sp
Yoghurt/Curd: 50 gms.Whisked.
Whole Cashew - 25 gms
Whole Raisins - 20 gms
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt - To taste
Vegetable Oil - 5 tb sp
Melted Ghee - 2 tb sp. To be added at the end.

Powdered SpiceS:
Coriander Powder - 3 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala Powder- 2 tsp.To be added at the end.

Whole Spices:
Bay Leaf - 2
Green Cardamon - 4.Crushed.

Procedure:
With the oven set to medium: Heat the vegetable oil in a wok/kadai.
Then add the whole spices in it.Let the spices sputter for sometime and release the aroma.
The crushed ginger and garlic is required to be added at this point.
Wait for ginger - garlic smell to evolve then add the onion slices.
Sprinkle the sugar over the onion slices.
Within 8-10 mins, the onion pieces will become brown.
Then add the entire marinade along with the chicken pieces.
Increase the heat to high.
Stir the chicken pieces thoroughly for 2-3 mins.

Then add the (i) tomato paste(ii) potato halves(iii) Powdered  spices without the garam masala powder (iv) Salt to taste.

Stir the ingredients thoroughly for 20-25 mins.Note that these 20/25 mins is vital for the end result because the spices get roasted and generate the flavour during this phase.Incase the chicken pieces start to stick to the bottom of the pan, then add some more vegetable oil. After this process is over, the chicken will acquire a brownish colour.

Turn the oven to low. Then add some amount of warm water,cashew nut paste and whisked yoghurt.Check the level of salt and add some more if required.Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan.Put a lid on the wok. Let the chicken simmer for 10 -12 mins.

Then check the level of water again.If the mixture goes too dry and chicken starts to stick to the wok, then add some more water once again and scrape the pan. Put the lid back again and let the chicken cook for a further 10 mins.Repeat this process for 20 mins more.
At the end of which the gravy will become dense and the curry will acquire a light brownish colour.

The Garam Masala and Melted ghee will be added after the chicken has turned succulent and tender.

Garnish with whole cashews and raisins.
Serve with the Bengali fried rice.