Step 1

Chop your onions coarsely. And by coarsely I mean 1/2 inch pieces. No point going any finer. Just wasting time...

Step 2

Place the onions in a microwave safe dish and cover with cling wrap. Punch a hole in the top. Microwave at 70 percent until the onions are soft and translucent. This takes about 10 minutes in an 1100 watt microwave oven.

Step 3

Remove the onions from the microwave. Be careful. They will be hot. Like burn you with the steam hot. Let them cool slightly.

Step 4

Do your prep while the onions are in the microwave.

Step 5

In a small bowl, combine the indian restaurant mix powder or curry powder, turmeric, kashmiri chili powder, cumin, kasoor methi and salt. This is your spice mix.

Step 6

Get your blender out. Get the pan on the stove. Measure out your ingredients. Cut up the chilies. Dice the tomatoes. Dilute the tomato paste.

Step 7

Cut the chicken into big bite size pieces. I like 3-4 pieces per thigh. Thighs are just better. More fat. More flavour. And more forgiving.

Step 8

The microwave should ding any second now. Place the onions, 2 tbsp vegetable oil and 1 cup of warm water in a blender and puree until smooth. Leave the paste in the blender. There is no point making more dishes here...

Step 9

Heat 4 tbsp vegetable oil in a pot over medium heat until it shimmers.

Step 10

Toss in the cinnamon bark and green cardamom. Let cook about 20-30 seconds. You will see little bubbles forming around the bark.

Step 11

Add the garlic ginger paste and green chilies. Stand back. Cook until the garlic ginger paste stops spluttering.

Step 12

Turn the heat to medium low. Add the spice mix. That's the mix you made above and put in the small bowl. Stir continuously until it starts to smell really good. It This takes around 30-40 seconds. Watch it carefully. If you burn the spices at this point you have to start over. This is called blooming the spices. It is one of the big secrets to Indian cooking. It's also why you you need to add all the oil specified in this recipe. Things will go poorly for you if you try shave calories.

Step 13

Add the diluted tomato paste and stir to combine. Turn the heat up to medium. Cook for 1 minute.

Step 14

Add half the onion paste and turn the heat up to medium high. Just dump it out of the blender. Stir to combine. Cook for about a minute.

Step 15

Add the rest of the onion paste and stir again. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 4 minutes. Don't worry if it looks dry. The chicken will release juices as it cooks. Instant delicious.

Step 16

Turn the heat down to medium low. Add the chicken and stir. Cover and simmer until the chicken is done. It's done when you measure the internal temperature and it says 170F, about 10-15 minutes. I can't tell you how long this takes. I don't know how big your chicken pieces are. I also don't know how hard things are simmering in your pan. An instant read thermometer is a handy thing to have here. It's actually a great thing to have period. Great chefs use them. You should use them too.

Step 17

If the curry is a bit thick add a bit of water or chicken stock and stir. You are after a saucy consistency like you get in a restaurant.

Step 18

Add the diced tomatoes and cilantro. Let the chicken masala simmer another minute or so. Basically you are just warming the tomatoes through. Taste for salt and adjust as needed.

Step 19

Garnish with a bit more cilantro if desired. This dish goes great with a simple tarka dal, chapattis and rice.