Chicken gravy is a multi-purpose side dish and this one, in particular, caters to all kinds of palates. The colour is pleasing and it almost looks like a stew.
Traditionally, I add coconuts to my gravies. You might have tried the one with paneer in it… so delicious and full of thick goodness. But this one was a brainchild of necessity… I had chicken, I needed gravy, but I did not have coconuts!
So I fell back on my good old friend the potato! For those who have questions about this vegetable, here is a great read. Meanwhile, I did use it in my dish.
The rest is history, and I present the simplest gravy ever!
Making the Chicken Gravy
The chicken gravy will be ready very fast by this method. Here, both the chicken and the potatoes are cooked side by side. If you just add rice in the rice cooker, your entire meal will be ready in half an hour!
So fry the chicken marinated with salt and turmeric for 10 minutes (or overnight) with onions and curry leaves in one pan.
Fry the roughly chopped potatoes in another pan. Just add some salt, chilli powder and turmeric powders while frying it. Resist the desire to eat it up as it is (or shhh…just eat a few pieces, who’s to know?! :))
Add some ginger, garlic, red chillies when it is almost done frying and cooked well.
Let the chicken continue to cook. Grind the slightly cooled potatoes with a cup of fresh coriander leaves. You can throw in some cashews if you wish.
By now the chicken will be half-cooked. The most important thing to remember while cooking chicken or mutton is to shallow fry for as long as possible to enhance the flavours. So this step really helps to get the final product to smell aromatic and inviting.
Simply add sour curds, the ground mixture, salt and some water. Bring to a boil. Cover. Add a sliced tomato and cook till done.
Enjoy!
Chicken Gravy
Course: SidesCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Easy6
servings15
minutes20
minutesMake this unusual chicken gravy as a side with rice dishes, breads, roti etc. A delightfully quick and easy to make chicken side dish, thickened with fried potatoes.
Ingredients
500 g chicken pieces, with bone.
200 g small onions or a large onion, chopped.
200 ml sour curd/yoghurt
3 tbsp oil
20 curry leaves
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp salt
2 large potatoes, chopped
1/2 inch piece of ginger
2-4 pieces of garlic
1 cup coriander leaves, chopped
2 red chillies
Directions
- Marinade chicken pieces in 1/2 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp salt. Keep aside for 15 minutes. (up to 12 hours in the fridge is fine)
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add onions and curry leaves.
- Add chicken pieces and fry on low heat for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Meanwhile heat oil in another pan. Add potatoes. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp salt and fry till done. Cover to cook, stir occasionally. Sprinkle water if the potatoes begin to stick to the pan. Add the ginger, garlic and red chillies. Stir well, fry for a minute and remove from the heat.
- Cool and grind to a coarse paste with a cup of chopped coriander leaves. You can add a bit of water if you want. The paste will be thick.
- Add sour curds to the chicken and mix well. Now add the ground paste. Add a cup of water ( or more if you wish). Bring this to a rapid boil. Now reduce the heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- Check salt. Add a sliced tomato and let it simmer for 4 minutes more.
- Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.
Notes
- In case you do not have sour curd, you can add fresh curd. Just remember to add the juice of a fresh lime to the gravy at the end, with the tomato.
- Marinating the chicken overnight reduces the time to make the dish after you get back from work.
- You can add cashews to the potaoes while grinding them , for added taste.