Royal Red Chilly Chicken Curry | a recipe adapted from Rajasthani 'Lal Maas'

This is a very easy recipe to make with the ultimate result being a succulent and delicious curry as you can see in the picture. The recipe uses whole spices and the heat from the spice is mellowed down by the addition of yoghurt / curd. The amount of heat in the curry can be adjusted to suit your taste by increasing or decreasing the amount of chilly powder while the quantity of other whole spices remain the same.

The dish is cooked with ghee and i did not use oil. It is good to pamper yourself with these traditional recipes and this would definitely make you feel lika a 'royal'. While cooking this chicken, the aroma was so exotic and i couldn't stop myself saying a wow. So, it is just to say that if you consume ghee once in a while it wont hurt or otherwise, indulge in this treat and you can merrily starve the next day ...he he he...

ingredients

1 medium sized chicken - 1200 to 1400 gms, cut into desired size pieces 

whole spices

i am writing the list of spices in the order which it has to go into the ghee

bay leaf - 2 small leaf, torn into 2

black cardamom - 3

green cardamom - 5

cinnamon stick - 1 inch stick, 2 pieces

cloves - 6

fennel seeds - 1 tsp

cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

pepper corns - 1/2 tsp

kashmiri red chilly - 20(split it into two lengthwise using scissors to remove seeds and dust & give a quick wash)

other ingredients

ghee - 2 to 3 tbsp

onion - 2 

garlic - 16 cloves

ginger - 1 inch piece

turmeric - 1/2 tsp

chilly powder - 2 tsp (add more after tasting the curry half way through the cooking)

curd - 300 ml

salt to taste

I have seen the addition of coriander leaves in this recipe in many tv shows and i have prepared this recipe with and without it. I prefer not to add coriander leaves.