Chicken Curry with yogurt and plans for the year

We have started the New Year off with frigid temperatures requiring a brave heart and heavy clothing to step out. As you all know I like very much to complain about the weather but I'd let that one go, being the first few days of the new year and all.

Among all the bickering and bad news emanating out of DC, some good news for the environment and by extension for the people who live there. Washington DC's Plastic Bag Tax Takes Effect This Week.

It has nothing to do with this post but I wanted to share that anyway and hopefully all 50 states will follow suit.

And the agenda for the year ahead, I am hoping to discuss, write about and hopefully learn about the sources of the foods that we consume.

International treaties and multinational companies have done a lot to do away with crop diversity. Where there were hundreds of varieties of a single crop now there are only a handful of bio-engineered seed varieties. This lack of diversity should be very scary, because a single disease or calamity could wipe out whole sources of food. Imagine a world where you are surrounded by people who look the same, speak the same language, eat the same food and behave the same way. That is by far what is happening in the corn, wheat and soy worlds. There are all the same.

As consumers and in particular as food bloggers we are ahead of the curve in matters of food and environment but there is a lot to learn. I am humbled and a bit actually a lot scared at how much ignorance there is about industrial food production and harm that it has been causing. One only need look, as there is information all around. This will be my primary interest this year.

The chicken recipe to be presented today and the chicken especially has a story. For years I have been buying chicken in chain grocery stores, where the chicken looks and feels like weeks if not months have passed before it hit the shelves. I read/heard somewhere that a few chicken processing plants in California ship the chicken (I forget if they were alive or not) to China to be packaged to save on costs. A sane person should have stopped eating chicken then and there right? But the insanity continued primarily because I'd rather cook at home than visit a fast food chain when the craving hits. The biggest take away is when possible be aware of where the produce comes from.

I have purchased chicken from the Lancaster Dutch Market a much loved local store run by Amish folks from Lancaster County, PA every now and then and know that they taste far superior to the supermarket variety. They are open only 3 days a week and a bit of planning is required so I sort of went back to the supermarket till I woke up startled one day and after a friend brought up the same subject. The chicken are grown free range with no antibiotic and hormones and moreover they are brought in fresh. Now we only eat chicken bought at the market and have learned to go without otherwise.

We had DH's cousin visiting when I made this chicken curry and he could not stop appreciating about how good the chicken tasted. I will share the secret folks, it had nothing to do with the spices, masala, cooking technique and all to do with the fresh good quality chicken.

I bet this story can be repeated for any fruit or vegetables. How it is grown matters a great deal.

Chicken Curry with Yogurt
Ingredients
1. 2 lbs chicken cut into chunks, washed with turmeric powder and set aside
2. 1/2 onion chopped
3. 6 green chilies slit
4. 2 inch piece of ginger grated
5. 8 garlic cloves chopped fine
6. 1 tomato chopped fine
7. 3 tbsp yogurt whisked
8. 2 tsp turmeric powder
9. 2 tsp dried curry leaf powder
10. seasonings whole spices: cinnamon, cloves, star anise, fennel seeds,cumin seeds, curry leaves

For the paste
1. 1/4 cup onion chopped
2. 1 tbsp coriander seeds
3. 1 tsp pepper corns
4. 1 tsp cumin seeds
5. 3 red chilies

In a bit of oil saute the onions followed by the other ingredients. Cool and blend with the minimum amount of water.

Method
1. In a kadai heat 2 tsp of oil and add the whole spices and when they start to turn color and a nice smell comes add the onions and green chilies and saute till the onions become brown.
2. Now add the garlic and ginger and saute for minute followed by chicken and turmeric powder, saute for 4-5 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and salt, saute for a minute, cover with a lid and let the chicken cook for another 6-8 minutes.
4. Add the paste and let it cook on medium low heat till the curry comes together about 8 minutes.
Alternately - 1-4 can all be dumped together in a pressure cooker and cooked for 2 whistles.
5.Put the flame on low, add the whipped yogurt and let simmer for a few more minutes.
The yogurt gives the curry a nice creamy texture and taste.

Serve with rice or chapatis.