Chicken With Tomato Sauce And Butter

Tim's Notes

My local grocery doesn't have cardamom pods, so I substituted one teaspoon of ground cardamom for the six pods. They also didn't have "legs" (drumstick and thigh) so I used drumsticks instead. This was my biggest frustration with the recipe. I wish I would have went breast only. I removed the skin from one drumstick but not the rest, and they were not the best. Any perceived benefit of "dark meat connoisseurs" was lost on me and simply not worth the hassle.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken legs (drumstick and thigh)
• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 medium-sized onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
• A piece of fresh ginger, about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 stick of cinnamon, 2-1/2 to 3 inches, broken up
• Seeds from 6 whole cardamom pods
• 8 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1 hot dried red pepper (or more, as and if desired), crumbled
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 16 ounces (2 cups) canned tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons lightly salted butter

Directions

1. Remove skin from all chicken pieces. Divide legs into drumstick and thigh, and quarter the breasts. Pat dry and put aside.
2. In the container of an electric blender, combine the onions, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom seeds, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves, red pepper, and 3 tablespoons water. Blend until you have a smooth paste.
3. Heat the oil in a 10-12 inch casserole-type pot over a high flame. When hot, put in the chicken pieces, 4 or 5 at a time, and brown them quickly (about a minute on each side). Remove with a slotted spoon. You will need to brown the chicken in several batches.
4. Turn heat to medium and pour in the paste from the blender. (Keep face averted.) Stir and fry the paste for 5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot well as you do so. Now add the tomato sauce, 3/4 cup water, and the salt. Bring to a boil. Cover.
5. Turn heat to very low and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring every 6 or 7 minutes.
6. Add the chicken pieces to the pot, as well as any juices that may have collected. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes. Stir gently every 5 or 6 minutes to avoid sticking and burning. Be careful not to break the chicken pieces as you stir. (This much of the recipe can be made up to a day in advance and refrigerated.)
7. Cut the butter into 4 pats. Take the chicken off the heat. Drop in the pats of butter and stir them in gently. Serve immediately.