Cornish Hen Masala

Cornish Hen Masala is a delicious curry with a thick sauce. It goes well with rice as well as flatbreads like Roti or Paratha. You can use any kind of chicken meat in this recipe. I have used Cornish hens. I find these little chickens are much tastier than others. It lends a special taste to this curry.

The tamarind paste and sugar are optional ingredients but preferable. They do make a nice difference to the taste.

Ingredients:

Cornish Hen, washed and cut in pieces 2 lbs

Chopped Onions 1/2 cup

Garlic 10 cloves

Ginger 2.5"

Dried Red chili 2 or as per preference

Black peppercorns 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon Stick 2" piece

Cloves 8

Shallots 10, sliced

Tomatoes 2 large

Coriander powder 1/2 tsp

Cumin powder 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder 1/8 tsp

Chili powder to taste

Coconut Milk 1/2 cup

Salt to taste

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add the whole spices and fry for twenty seconds. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and red chili to the spices and fry everything until the edges of the onions turn slightly brown. Now allow this to cool and grind the mixture to a fine paste using enough water.

Heat another 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan. Add the shallots and fry them until they turn brown. Be careful not to burn the shallots. Burnt shallots will make the curry taste bitter. Add the tomatoes and a a tablespoon of water. Cover the pan and cook the tomatoes until they are mushy. Now add the ground masala paste and all of the spice powders. Give a good mix. Add salt, mix again and taste the mixture. Adjust the salt and chili powder if necessary. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of water. Add the chicken, cover the pan with a lid and cook for two minutes. Turn the chicken pieces. If the curry looks like its going to stick to the pan add few more tablespoons of water. You can do this at any point in the cooking process. Now cover and cook the chicken until done. Add the coconut milk, tamarind paste and sugar, if using, and mix well. Cover for just two more minutes. Serve.