Indian Chicken Curry

"Chicken Curry" is a popular dish on the Indian subcontinent, as well as in the United Kingdom, as it was one of the dishes brought there during the time when much of the subcontinent was a British colony. With trading ships traveling the world and stopping in so many places and with people of the Indian subcontinent emigrating to other parts of the world, recipes for chicken curry spread elsewhere, and as you can imagine, there are numerous recipes, but there are many variations right within the Indian subcontinent,* including some with far less sauce, often called "gravy" by people of the subcontinent. As I have said before about some Indian recipes, they can contain a long list of ingredients, but that's often because these recipes contain many wonderful spices. 

You can use chicken pieces with bones, which IS traditional, but let's be honest, boneless chicken is easy to deal with when eating, so that's what I often use, and I haven't been hit by a piece of naan bread yet, darn it! It's so good. I've also used some bright red sweet paprika, which is not traditional, but it helps to give more red color to the dish.**

Ingredients:

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds small chicken pieces, bones-in or boneless
2 medium onions, chopped
2 to 3 chilies (serranos or jalapeños are good), chopped
2 to 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 inch piece ginger, grated
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (or olive oil)
2/3 teaspoon turmeric
2 bay leaves
1 heaping teaspoon ground red pepper (like cayenne)
1 heaping teaspoon sweet paprika, the redder the color, the better
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (also called coriander)
(optional) if you want to thicken the curry, grind up 10 or 12 cashews, stir the meal into the gravy

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until browned. When the onion is not quite browned, add the garlic and the ginger and saute until the onion is browned, stirring or swirling the ingredients in the pan as they cook (to prevent them from burning). Add the chopped chilies, chopped tomato and the turmeric, saute until chilies and tomatoes soften. Add the chicken and stir to mix, cook for about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often to brown the chicken pieces somewhat. Add the ground red pepper, paprika, ground coriander, ground cumin, black pepper, ground cloves, cinnamon, salt, stir well to mix in everything. Add the water and stir again, cook for a minute or two, then cover, reduce heat to low and cook about 25 minutes. If using ground cashews, stir them in and continue stirring for about another 1 to 2 minutes. Good served with rice or naan bread, or even better, with both.

* In northeastern India and Bangladesh they often add potatoes to the dish. Sri Lanka is one of the countries of the Indian subcontinent and I have a recipe for a Sri Lankan chicken curry at this link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/03/sri-lankan-chicken-curry.html

** The red peppers used in much of the cooking of the Indian subcontinent give a nice bright red color, something not always easy to duplicate with "Western" chili powders or ground red peppers.

WORD HISTORY:
Bandana-This word is related to "bind," "bend," "bond" and "band,"^ all words from the Germanic roots of English. "Bandana" (also spelled "bandanna" by some) goes back to Indo European "bhendh," which had the notion of "to tie, tie up, to bind." This gave Sanskrit "badhnati," which meant "binds." This gave Hindi "bandhnu," meaning "a process of tying cloth and then dyeing it" (the source of modern tie-dyeing). This was borrowed by English in the mid 1700s as "bandanna" (apparently double 'n' initially and by some still today), meaning, "colorful handkerchief," later in American English usage, "handkerchief worn around the neck by cowboys," then also, "colorful cloth worn on the head." 

^ The meaning of "band" for "a group of people, often like outlaws or musicians," was borrowed by English from French. The meaning, "strip of something, usually flat, that separates an area from another, often by color," also came from French ("bande") and it influenced (expanded) the existing English meaning "strip of something used to bind." The French form came from the same Old Germanic source, but was absorbed into French from Germanic Frankish.