Posto Chicken calling...

In order to create something as extravagant as poppy seed chicken curry one needs to ensure one has all the ingredients ready and at hand. For this dish I add in mixed melon seeds that goes along with poppy seeds although the former might not be easily available in some parts of the world. Hence we can completely do away with it incase you are unable to procure it in your local Indian grocery store.

This is not a very simple cooking process and requires quite a bit of work. First foremost we need 700-800 grams of skinless chicken cut into curry pieces washed and the water drained out. Next we need poppy seed paste - 2 tablespoons, cashew nut paste - I/4th of a small cup, mixed melon seeds paste or as we popularly call 'chaar mogoj bata' - 2 tablespoons, garam masala mix - (2 cinnamon sticks, 4 cardamom pods, 3 cloves), 1 bay leaf, 2 whole red chillies, a handful of peppercorns, 1 teaspoon red chilli powder, 21/2 teaspoons of garlic and 11/2 teaspoons of ginger paste, 1 full cup of onion paste, 11/2 1 teaspoon of fenugreek leaves, onions rings - 1 small cup, yoghurt - 1/2 a cup, salt for taste, vegetable oil for cookIn a large wok warm up enough vegetable oil and tip in the garam masala mixture along with the peppercorns, bay leaf and the whole red chillies. Let them all splutter in the oil giving out aroma as you quickly add in your onion paste. Keep stirring and ensuring that the onion does not catch up at the bottom. Let it all come together as a homogenous mixture allowing the onion to turn somewhat brown. Once it's fully cooked you can add the ginger/ garlic paste stir for a few more minutes until it all dissolves and becomes quite congruous in nature. Tip in the red chilli powder and keep stirring the masalas and if it catches at the bottom add in a little splash of water. Keep sautéing unless until you do not see the oil leaving the sides of the 'masala' mixture. Once done, you add in the chicken pieces one by one and give them a good mix or a two. Let them all get nicely sautéed in the mixture of beautiful ingredients and once you find all your chicken pieces to be evenly whitened you can add in the beaten yoghurt. Stir them for a few minutes more and add in the rest of your ingredients such as the cashew, poppy and melon seed paste and bind them altogether with your spatula stirring it occasionally. Add in salt for taste along with 1/12 cups of warm water and let the liquid come to a boil. Sprinkle fenugreek leaves crushing them with your palms and put the lid on. Let it all simmer on low flame for roughly twenty five or thirty odd minutes. Simultaneously, fry onion rings until golden brown in another small wok. Leave them aside to be garnished on top of your posto or poppy seed chicken. Once done, you check the chicken pieces for tenderness. Finally, add the fried onion rings and serve the dish hot with rice Indian flatbread.

The dish needs about forty five minutes and can fill about four hungry tummies on a weekend or even a weekday when you want to enjoy good food, good music and good weather.