Chicken Rohgani Qurma

jyotirmoy

This qurma is best enjoyed in the winter.
INGREDIENTS
Chicken400 gm boneless
almond paste 3 tablespoons
1 tbsp oil
4 cloves
4 cardamoms
2 sticks of cinnamon
2 bay leaves
1 cup yoghurt whisked to a smooth paste.
Gravy
1 tbsp oil1
tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp brown onion paste (fry sliced onions in oil, strain & grind, can be stored in an airtight can in refrigerator for future use)
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chilli paste
1 tsp salt
3 cups of chicken stock You can use the stock cubes but make sure that these do not contain ajinomoto or some strong seasoning. Don’t use cream of chicken too.
½ tsp mixture of mace and cardamom powder, 70% cardamom & 30% mace.
½ tsp of garam masala
2 drops of kewra essence
A pinch of saffron, soak the strands in warm milk & grind it using a small mortar & pestle.
You can use roasted almonds, juliennes of ginger and coriander leaves to garnish

Take a pair of chicken pieces & apply almond paste to the surface of one piece & cover it with another, and tie the pieces together with a thread.
Heat oil in pan. Add cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon, bay leaves and chicken. Cook the chicken till it loses color, and then add the yoghurt. Cover the pan and cook for about 2 minutes. The chicken will cook in almond & yogurt mix!
Strain the chicken and remove the thread from it. Now keep the chicken aside along with the strained chicken stew.
For the Gravy, heat oil in pan. Add ginger garlic paste, onion paste, coriander powder, red chilli paste, salt, strained chicken stew, chicken stock, prepared chicken pieces, mixture of mace and cardamom powder, garam masala and kewra essence.Cover the pan and cook for about five minutes.
Garnish with saffron, roast almonds, juliennes of ginger and coriander leaves. Seal the lid of the pan preferably with wheat dough. This will not allow the aroma to escape easily.
Then place the pan on a thick tava & place the tava on low fire for about 15 minutes.
Serve hot with tandoori roti.