recipes

To paraphrase Patrick Henry: "Give me liberty - or a give me a piece of that fiery, Chicken Tawa!".

Ingredient: 2 chicken leg quarters
clarified butter
1 small stick cinnamon
1 large onion
1 Tbl red, hot chile powder
1/2 cup water
1 clove garlic
7 Tbl crème fraîche or plain yogurt
salt masala
1/2 Tsp cumin seeds
1/2 Tsp coriander seeds
10 black peppercorns
1/4 Tsp ground turmeric
1/8 Tsp ground nutmeg

Method: Remove the skin from the chicken. Slice the onion into thin, half-moon shapes. Smash the garlic. In a coffee grinder, process the cumin, coriander, black peppercorns, turmeric and nutmeg finely.
In a wok or a Dutch oven, heat-up the clarified butter with the cinnamon stick. Brown the chicken on both sides. Add salt to taste. Throw in the onions and saute them. When the onions take on color, sprinkle in the chile powder and 3/4 of the masala. Stir, turn the heat down, cover the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour in the water and throw in the garlic. Stir. Cover the pan and simmer until the chicken is tender - 35 minutes. Remove the lid, increase the heat and reduce until the most of the liquid evaporates. Pour in the crème fraîche and adjust the seasonings with the remainder of the masala and salt to taste. Reduce the sauce until it coats the back of a spoon. To facilitate consumption with naan flatbread, break the chicken quarters up partially with a metal spatula. Garnish with cilantro - if desired.

note: 24 oz of chicken legs and thighs can be substituted for the 2 chicken leg quarters.