Ingredients
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3 chicken breast halves, boneless, skinless 1/2 medium yellow or white onion -- finely chopped 1 teaspoon garlic, minced 1 can chicken broth 1/3 cup sour cream (NOT low-fat) 1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt 1 quart stewed tomatoes -- chopped, drained olive oil for sauteeing spices: 1 teaspoon cumin seed, whole 1 teaspoon coriander seed, whole 1 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon ginger, dry, powdered 1/2 teaspoon chile powder, mild 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon clove 1/2 teaspoon white pepper 12 cardamom pods, cracked, seeds removed
Procedure
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Cut chicken breasts into 1/2" x 1" chunks. Place in glass bowl and set aside.
In a hot dry cast iron skillet, dry roast the cumin and coriander seeds for
30-60 seconds. Do not burn. Remove roasted seeds from skillet. Open cardamom
pods and remove the black seeds. Discard the woody pods. Add toasted cumin and
coriander seeds and other spices to a spice or coffee grinder and grind to a
fine powder. Sprinkle all the powdered spices over the chicken pieces and mix
well with a spoon. Be sure all the chicken pieces are coated with the spice
mixture. Cover and place in refrigerator to marinate for at least two hours and
better, over night. Place 1 tablespoon of olive oil in tava, wok or large saute
pan. Heat oil and add chopped onions. Saute until translucent. Add garlic and
saute another 30 seconds. Remove onions and garlic from pan and set aside.
Remove chicken from refrigerator and add some more oil to the pan and saute the
chicken pieces a few at a time until browned. Set the browned chicken aside and
saute more until all the chicken has been browned. Do not overheat the pan as
this will burn the spices stuck to the pan. If the spices on the bottom of the
pan are burned, then wash the pan. Return the chicken to the pan and add the
sauteed onions and garlic. Add chicken broth to pan. Mix ingredients well,
deglazing the browned spices off the bottom of pan. Simmer chicken uncovered
until liquid is reduced by half, about 45 minutes. Add drained tomato chunks.
Continue to simmer another 5 minutes or so. The liquid should be reduced so that
it is the thickness of gravy.
Mix the sour cream and the plain yogurt together well. Remove the pan from the
heat and stir in the sour cream-yogurt mixture. Serve immediately over plain
Basmati rice.
