Ingredients:

1lb chik’n, dark meat, chopped
1t turmeric
2t red chili powder (or more to taste)
1t black pepper, ground fine
2 bay leaves
4 cloves
3 star anise
3 black cardamom
3 regular cardamom
2 onions, chopped fine
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tomatoes, chopped [rml_read_more]
1t garlic paste
1t ginger paste
1/2t black salt

Method:

Marinate the chik’n pieces in salt, turmeric powder, 1t red chili powder and fine-ground black pepper powder.

In a saucepan, heat oil. As the oil heats up, add all the whole spices and within two minutes, add the onions and saute till they are golden-brown. Add chopped tomatoes and reduce heat to medium and cook till the oil separates from the tomato mixture (“masala”), about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large steel pan (not non-stick), pan fry the chik’n pieces in batches till they are all seared and almost cooked through.

Once the tomato mixture is cooked, add the chik’n pieces and cook for another 10 minutes. Mix in the black salt and serve with naan or rotis.

An alternative to chik’n for vegetarians is to saute cauliflower, use less masala as shown below.