Ingredients

1 whole chicken or similar amount of chicken, cut into small pieces
1 ½ cup onions, finely chopped
1 piece cinnamon sticks, 1 inch
4-6 pieces cardamom
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste
Salt to taste
Oil or ghee (clarified butter) for cooking
1-2 cup milk
¼ cup plain yogurt
2 medium size potatoes cut into quarters each, optional
1-2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar
3-6 green chilies, whole
1 tsp rose water, optional

Wash chicken, place in a colander and set aside so that most of the water is removed.

In a cooking pot, heat a little oil and sauté chopped onions until they are golden brown. Add cinnamon and cardamom and sauté some more. Add cumin powder and coriander powder. Add ginger paste and garlic paste. Add salt to taste. Cook spices for 30 sec to 1 minute. Add some yogurt and cook for another minute. Add some milk and cook the spices further until oil separates from the spices. Add chicken and coat them well with spices. Cook for about 3-5 minutes and also add potatoes (optional). Add milk (or water) and cook chicken covered. Once the chicken is almost ready to be taken off the heat, uncover and add a few green chilies and a little lime juice with a little sugar. If using rose water, this is when you add it. Cook it uncovered for a minute or two and then take it off the heat. Garnish with crispy fried onions called “bereshta” in Bengali. Now it’s ready to be devoured with rice. Enjoy!

Note: You can use water in place of milk. Liquid amount required may vary, so add as required. Even though the recipe calls for quite a few green chilies, they are for flavour and not for adding heat to the dish. The heat comes from the seeds and since they are kept whole and cooked only for a few minutes this dish will not have heat.