Malai chicken masala

Total Time

715

½ kg tender chicken
½ cup of tomato puree (pureed tomatoes)
½ cup of thick yogurt
1 ½ tsp. Ginger garlic paste
¼ cup of fried onions (refer notes)
1 green chili slit
8 to 10 fresh mint leaves, very finely chopped
2 tbsp. coriander leaves chopped (half for marination, half to use for garnishing)
1 tsp red chili powder
⅛ tsp turmeric powder
1 to 1 ½ tsps. Garam masala powder or biryani masala powder
½ tsp kasuri methi
¼ cup of cream
oil or butter as needed
Dry spices
1 bay leaf
2 to 3 green cardamoms
⅛ tsp shahi jeera
1 “cinnamon stick
2 to 4 cloves
1 strand of mace
½ tsp pepper corn

Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a pan; add dry spices. sauté, add ginger garlic paste and sauté to get an aroma.
Add chicken and fry on medium till it turns white. Usually takes around 3 to 4 mins. Set this aside to cool.
Add 1 tsp oil to the same pan, add pureed tomatoes, sprinkle salt and fry till almost it looks dry. Takes around 4 to 5 mins. Set aside to cool along with chicken.
Once cool, combine fried chicken, tomato puree, yogurt, fried onions, mint, coriander leaves, ginger garlic paste, turmeric, green chili, red chili powder, salt & half of chicken masala powder. Marinate the chicken, set aside for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. You can leave it overnight in the refrigerator for the best taste and aroma.
To prepare the malai chicken masala (Please note, the curry has to be cooked on a very low flame to get the true taste)
Heat butter or oil, add marinated chicken. Begin to cook on a very low flame, stirring occasionally to prevent burning
Cook covered till the chicken turns tender and fully cooked. Usually needs no water. But this depends on the chicken. Some release lot of moisture, after we begin to cook. While some do not, if needed add very little water while cooking.