Murgh Achari

Simple translation - Murghi is chicken and Achar is any kind of indian pickle. Unlike pickles from other parts of the world, Indian pickles are traditionally made of ground spices and red or green chillies. Lemon and vinegar is used as a picking agent together with ginger and garlic. I tried to make this recipe in the same fashion as i would attempt to make a shrimp pickle but i mellowed the taste so it's not overpowering as a pickle can be. Using chicken with bone in is vital to flavouring the gravy but you can use only chicken breast if preferred. The best part of this dish is that I only used one deep saute pan!

1 full chicken chopped into small pieces (you can remove the lass attractive pieces when serving)
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp sambhar powder (can use regular curry powder as well)
1 large coarsely chopped red onion
Curry leaves 10 - 12
3 garlic flakes coarsely chopped
1 inch stick of ginger coarsely chopped
3 dried red chillies
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
Tadka(this is a fried garnish that is poured over a finished dish to enhance flavour)-2 tbsps on ginger and garlic and 4 - 5 curry leaves
1 large tomato coarsely chopped.
2 tbsps vinegar
Salt

Heat some oil in a pan and fry the onions, red chillies, chopped ginger and garlic, mustard seeds, coriander seeds and cumin. When the onions are golden brown remove everything from the pan and put in a food processor with the chopped tomatoes. Grind to a fine paste. Add the tadka to to pan. When the ginger and garlic is golden brown, remove and keep aside. Add a bit more oil to the pan and add the chicken. Sprinkle the turmeric, chilly powder and sambhar powder. Add some salt as well. Brown the chicken on all sides. Add the ground paste and cover the chicken with it. Add some water and cover, stirring at intervals and adding water and salt as required. Add vinegar. Simmer for an hour till the chicken is tender. When this is ready to serve sprinkle the tadka over the chicken. With then recipe above, the gravy is enough to eat with rotis, but if you want to serve this with rice you can double or triple the gravy ingredients.