Gondhoraj Murgi

Ingredients:

Chicken on the bone - 1 kg 

Onion Juice - 2 tbsp

Ginger Juice - 2 tbsp 

Garlic Juice - 2 tbsp

Green Chilli Paste - 1 tbsp (adjust according to tolerance level)

Curd - 1 cup

Coriander Powder - 1 1/2 tsp

Regular lemon - 1

Gondhoraj Lebu - 1  (dhabbakaya)

Gondhoraj Lebu Leaves or Kaffir lime leaves - 7-8

Cardamom Pods - 5-6

Refined Oil - 1 tbsp

Green Chilli - 3-4 slitted

Salt as per taste

Sugar as per taste

Ghee or clarified butter - 4 tbsp

Scale up or down the other ingredients as per the amount of chicken.

Procedure 1 : Quick Fix Method1. Wash and pat dry the chicken pieces. Take 1/2 cup of the curd and beat

it uniformly. Add it to the chicken.

2. Make a paste of 1 big onion, 7-8 garlic pods, 4 inch garlic and 5-6 green chillies in the grinder. Adjust chillies according to tolerance level. Add water to the paste and with the help of a strainer strain the entire juice from the paste using a spoon to squeeze out the juice. Add a bit of water if required to strain easily.Add this strained juice to the chicken.

3. Add the juice of the regular lemon and Gondhoraj lebu to the chicken. Carefully scrape out some zest of the Gondhoraj lebu and add that too to the chicken

4. Add the coriander powder, salt and refiled oil to the chicken. Mix everything together. Marinate the chicken for 30 mins at least.

5. Heat ghee in a wok. When the ghee is fragrant temper it with cardamom pods.

6. When the cardamom pods crackle, shake off the extra marinade and add the chicken pieces one by one to the ghee.

7. Add the chillies and the Gondhoraj lebu leaves. I substituted with Kaffir lime leaves as I didn't have the Gondhoraj leaves. Toss around the chicken for a couple of minutes, taking care to slightly brown the pieces.

8. Add half cup of water to the marinade and add it to the wok. Adjust the salt and sugar now. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of beaten curd. Add a little Gondhoraj zest. Fold everything in. 

Notice that I have added potatoes at this stage. The original recipe does not have potatoes but in our house its inevitable in every chicken dish courtesy hubby. So if you want to add potatoes like me you can do so, only thing don't fry the potatoes before adding to the gravy. For turmericless recipes adding fried potatoes to the gravies might alter the actual flavor, hence I prefer to add it raw. The potatoes will get cooked along with the chicken.

9. Cook the chicken on medium flame for an hour or till the chicken is cooked. Keep stirring 

Procedure 2 : Actual Method1.  Extract the juice of the onion, ginger and garlic separately and then add everything according to the measurement written in the ingredient list. 

Everything else remains the same in this procedure. Believe me there is practically no difference to the end result in both the process. The later one only adds to the task list. Flavor and taste per say both are same. So for lazy people like me the first process also works out perfectly!

Serving Suggestion: Serve the dish with steamed Basmati rice. Drizzle some Gondhoraj juice on top of the chicken before serving.