Entrees

Cilantro & Tomato Chicken

Adapted from The Splendid Table, orig. From Madhur Jaffrey

A wonderfully flavorful dish. Serve it with Indian breads, whole-wheat pita bread, or rice to make the most of the sauce and dish up some cooling yogurt on the side.
 

Prep Time

90 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Yield

4 Servings

Ingredients

1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons ginger, fresh (minced)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
4 chicken leg (skins removed)
2 tomato (medium)
2 pepper, green chile (hot)
1 cup yogurt, plain
3 cups cilantro

Instructions

Put the ginger, garlic, ¼ tsp of the salt, and the lemon juice into a blender or food processor. Add about 2 Tbsp of water and blend until smooth. Rinse chicken and place in a ceramic plate or bowl. Pour the ginger mixture over the top and rub it in. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Without bothering to clean out the blender, put in the tomato, cilantro, chilies, tomato paste, the remaining ¾ tsp salt, and 2 Tbsp of water. Blend until smooth.

Pour the oil in a large, lidded pan and set over high heat. When very hot, put in the chicken pieces along with the marinade.

Fry until the chicken is light brown on all sides, about 10 minutes.

Add the tomato mixture from the blender. Continue to cook, stirring, another 10 minutes.

Add the yogurt. Stir and cook until the yogurt dissolves in a thick sauce edged with oil, 4-5 minutes.  Cover; reduce the heat to low, and cook until the chicken is tender (up to 45 minutes).  If the pan is drying out, stir in a little water.