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Cheater's Spicy Indian Chicken Curry

I've been trying to make a decent indian curry for a while now, and can never seem to get the taste with the texture the right way.  So I decided to cheat!  And it actually came out great, I brought it to work for a few indian food lovers and they said it tasted restaurant quality.  It'll have to do until I can perfect a from-scratch recipe, and even then I'll probably still make it when I'm in a rush.
 
Ingredients:
-2 tablespoons high-heat oil, I use peanut
-1 jar of indian curry sauce - This is the cheating part.  Unfortunately most jarred sauces I've tried basically taste like tomato sauce, so you'll have to spice it up a bit.  I use the Trader Joe's brand Curry Simmer sauce, but any should do.
-curry powder
-garam masala powder
-salt
-Chili's- I use the small indian ones, 15-20.  I've also tried ghost chili's and it was great.
-1 onion, chopped into half inch sqaures
-6 cloves garlic, I typically use more but the sauce already contains garlic
-1 inch piece of ginger
-Roughly one pound of chicken, cut into small pieces
-1 tablespoon chili powder.
-Optional - cilantro or mint leaves
 
Cooking time: 10-15 min
 
Grind or mash the ginger, garlic, and chili's enough so they're mashed well but not a liquid or puree.  Heat the oil up to high on large/medium frying pan or wok and throw the mix into the oil once it gets warm, stirring to avoid burning.  If you have whole spices like cloves, green cardamon pods and cumin seeds, you can add a sprinkle of those at this point too for extra flavor.  Infusing the oil with the ginger, garlic and chili's really is what gives you that intense flavor and heat in every bite. Once you can smell the mix it's time to lower the heat and add the onion.
 
Once the onion browns a bit but is still crunchy, add the chicken and cook until its browned.  Once browned, throw in the Curry simmer sauce.  At this point I just coat the whole top of the sauce in curry powder, I don't have exact measurements.  Store bought jars of curry powder work fine.  I also add 1-3 tablespoons of garam masala, and 1 tablespoon chili powder depending on the strength.  Stir well and once the chicken is cooked taste the sauce.  I was amazed at how much curry powder I had to use to get any real flavor when I used store bought... about 1/4 of the bottle. 
 
Add any veg you'd like while the chicken is cooking.  Once it's cooked, I usually stir in some fresh cilantro or mint leaves for an extra flavor, but that's completely optional.
 
 
 
Here's a link to the sauce I use, although I wouldn't buy it off of Amazon since that price is almost triple what it cost me in the store
https://www.amazon.com/Trader-Joes-Curry-Simmer-Sauce/dp/B007YUIN8K/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1466869449&sr=8-4&keywords=trader+joe%27s+curry
 
I do something similar with Swad or MTR brand packets like Makhani and Tikka. First though i toast the spices in the oil or ghee. Then add the ginger and garlic. I usually just use the premade ginger and garlic pastes. Onion is next unless you want more fresh chiles. After the onions are translucent you can add a little turmeric if you wish.
 
I add garam masala, cilantro and a tiny bit of cream or fat free half&half near the very end. Using the cream really depends on the kind of curry but i love it with makhani. Cilantro is a must for me just before serving and some for garnish.
 
The Swad packets are just under $2 each. Its not really a simmer sauce but a microwavable meal. Usually with paneer and peas but i like chicken in mine also. If i get the ones with just paneer, i also add some frozen peas. I did buy a simmer sauce from Aldi to try. It was cheap so im sure it will need some additions to make it close to correct.
Paneer-Makhani-29-JAN.jpg

swad%20paneer%20makhani.jpg

 
 
 
 
BTW if you want a pretty good packaged garam masala, look for Rajah's Garam Masala. Its not half bad IMO. The new can is blue and the old can is brown.
 
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