Kaju Murgh/Spicy Cashew Chicken Curry



Success - To me, the word 'success' can be interpreted in many ways and it owns many dimensions.  How do you judge success?   Do you have to reach the peak to be successful? Success and mediocrity may not go along, but success is not final, it opens the wide door to continue the path.  Success can be addictive, it has the power to change the personality in you.   Achieving greater heights and staying humble is very hard.  We rarely see people like that around us these days.  One such great personality was the late President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam.  His inspirational quotes are very popular and the one I like the most is:

"All of us do not have equal talent. But, all of us have an equal opportunity to develop our talents.”

We should strive hard to seek the goal. We may have to work hard to achieve the goal and its vital to realize that none of the 'success' people enjoy comes through shortcuts.  The sweat, the pain, the hard work and persistent trials and failures leads to success.  The success you attain through shortcuts may not last longer.  Man needs difficulties in life because they are necessary to enjoy the success.  If there is no pain, there is no gain.  This post is for all my blogger friends who strive hard to keep their blogs up and running by hurdling all the challenges that come across their way!! Keep blogging and nothing should hinder the intensity of your passion!!

Today's post is about a spicy Cashew Chicken curry.  Chicken pieces are slowly cooked along with whole spices in a cashew based gravy to attain a juicy and aromatic dish that can be served with plain steamed rice or Rotis (Indian flat bread).  One of our family friend was very sweet and generous to give me bags of expensive cashews and I had been using them in all possible ways to make use of the high quality cashews she gave me without wasting a bit.  Hope you will give this recipe and try.


Ingredients:

To soak
15 - cashew nuts
1/2 cup - milk

2 lbs - Cleaned chicken pieces with bones
1 tbsp. - freshly ground ginger garlic paste
1 cup - caramelized onion paste/finely chopped onions
1 tsp. - coriander powder
1 tsp. - red chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. - Kashmiri chili powder
1/2 tsp. - turmeric powder
1/2 tsp - garam masala
1 - medium tomato pureed
1 - 2 cup - water
salt to taste

whole spices
1/2 tsp - cumin seeds/jeera
1/2 tsp - fennel seeds
1/2 tsp - black peppercorns
1 inch - cinnamon stick
1 - star anise
2 - green cardamom
4 - cloves
3 - dry red chili
4 tbsp. - oil


To garnish
1/4 cup - fresh Cilantro chopped
1/2 tsp. - dry fenugreek leaves/Kasuri Methi

Directions:
  • Soak the cashews in 1/2 cup of milk for half hour.  Alternatively you can microwave the cashews in 1/2 cup of milk for a minute and keep it aside to cool.  Grind the cashews with milk and make a thick paste and keep it aside.
  • Heat a deep nonstick pan or cast iron wok with 4 tbsp of oil.  Add the whole spices and fry for 30 seconds.  Add garlic paste and cook for 1 minute.  Now add the caramelized onion paste/finely chopped onions and salt.  Cook till the mixture turns light golden brown.  Now add Coriander powder, chili powder, Kashmiri chili powder, turmeric powder and garam masala. Cook till the raw smell is gone.  Add the tomato puree and cashew paste and cook for another minute till the gravy looks thick.  Adjust the salt.  Mix the cleaned chicken piece and cover the lid.  Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.  Water will start to drain out from chicken pieces.  Now add 1 - 1.5 cups of water to the chicken.  Close the lid and cook for 25 - 30 minutes on low to medium heat till the gravy becomes thick and oil starts to collect on the top of the curry.   Check the chicken pieces for readiness and turn off the flame once it is cooked and the gravy reaches the desired consistency.
  • Rub the fenugreek leaves between your palm and add it along with chopped Cilantro leaves to the curry.  Serve them hot with Roti, Pulao or Naan.
Notes:
  • Adjust the amount of spices per your taste.  Cashews paste made with milk naturally has got a sweet flavor, so the amount of spices I used in this recipe was good enough for our palate.
  • You can adjust the consistency of the gravy by adjusting the amount of water.
  • Caramelized onions takes this dish to another level.  So try to use caramelized onions in this recipe.

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