Magically Delicious Pepper Chicken

Hello boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! It's no secret that I love cooking, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I love cooking for people. In fact, it makes me quite upset when I invite people over and the food is anything short of perfect or isn't enough (involuntary shudder).

Some time ago, I raided the fridge for ingredients to cook something for dinner. Unfortunately, my fridge was not unlike Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard at the time so I had to call upon a professional for expert advice on how to best utilise my limited resources. After speaking to my mom (I did say professional!), I decided to cook some pepper chicken (emphasis on the 'some'). So I cut up the 3 chicken thighs I dug out from the fridge, marinated them, cooked them and sat down to eat as my roommate brought me hot roti after hot roti leading me to eat far more than I had originally intended leaving the poor girl sans chicken for her last roti. As I watched her finish her roti with mango pickle I sank lower and lower in my seat in shame but despite the guilt, I couldn't help but think about how good that chicken had turned out!

Today's recipe is that magically delicious pepper chicken. The seed of unbridled greed. The destroyer of friendships. The key to taking over the world! (Okay, maybe not that last one..)

For Magically Delicious Pepper Chicken, you will need the following:

Chicken                           500 gms (boneless if you can wangle it)
Onion                              1 large
Yoghurt                            2 dollops
Ginger garlic paste           2 tsp (or make it fresh)
Garam masala                  3/4 tsp
Pepper                             3-4 tsp (freshly cracked!)
Salt                                  to taste
Kadhi patta (curry leaves)  handful
Oil

Prep:

1. Wash and cut the chicken into cubes.
2. Grab a clean bowl.
3. Plop in the chicken.
4. Dollop in the yoghurt. (You only want enough to coat the chicken and a tiny surplus.)
5. Put in the ginger garlic paste.
6. Sprinkle in the garam masala.
7. Add in the pepper.
8. Add in the salt.
9. Mix well.
10. Stick it in the fridge for an hour.
11. Chop the onion.

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a pan on.
3. Splash in some oil.
4. Count to 20.
5. Float in the kadhi patta.
6. Drop in the onion.
7. Fry the onion until light brown.
8. Retrieve the chicken bowl.
9. With a fork, spear the chicken pieces and add them to the pan.
10. Sear the chicken. (Wait till it goes from pink to slightly darker than white).
11. Add in the yoghurty dregs from the chicken bowl.
12. Splash in some water.
13. Pop the lid on.
14. Drop the heat to low.
15. Cook for about 20-30 minutes. (Periodically stir to make sure the chciken doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. You can add a splash of water if it dries out too soon)
16. Add salt to taste. (Remember, you've already added salt in the marinade so be careful.)
17. Add some more pepper if you want. (I always do.)
18. Pop the lid back on until the chicken is cooked all the way through.
19. Turn the gas off.
20. Serve with hot rotis.
21. Stuff face.
22. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: This isn't a gravy dish. You can put in some extra yoghurt for a little more masala but too much will ruin it.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!