Badam Murgh Malai / Chicken Curry with Almond Milk

After a nice, much needed but brief vacation at India and the UAE, it does seem really hard for me to get back to my old grind.  During my stay in India, I really missed my mom's delicious home-cooked delicacies because she was in Abu Dhabi helping out my sister who just had a baby girl. Yes, our family is blessed with yet another angel - Arryel, born on Dec 10, 2011. 

I finally did get to satisfy my taste buds when I stopped over at Abu Dhabi for a few days to spend with mom and my sister's family. My mother had made this simple but delicious chicken curry that I wanted to re-create. With simple ingredients and a few easy steps, this should be one for your 'Quick-Fix curries' list! 

The secret to this dish seemed to be browning the chicken well before adding the almond milk.  

Serves 8
Ingredients 
3lb - Chicken
4 Tsp - Kashmiri Chilly powder
3 Inch Ginger
12 - Large Garlic cloves
2 Tsp - Vinegar
1 - Large Red Onion, Sliced
1 - Large Potato
20 - Almonds
2 Cups - Milk (use more if you want more gravy for the dish)
Curry leaves
Coconut Oil
Salt
1 Tbsp - Fresh Cream (optional)

Directions

• Grind the ginger and garlic into a fine paste. You should be getting approximately 5 tablespoons of ginger-garlic paste. 
• Marinate the chicken with the ginger garlic paste, chilly powder, vinegar and salt and keep it for an hour.
• Heat coconut oil in a non stick pan. Add sliced onions, potato, curry leaves and the marinated chicken
• Cook until the chicken is cooked through and browned. Browning the chicken is necessary in order to achieve the desired taste.
• While the chicken is cooking, take the almonds in a microwave-safe bowl, add enough water to immerse the nuts and cook for 90 secs. Take out and let it cool. You should be able to peel the almond skin off easily now.
• Take the peeled almonds and grind it into a fine paste by adding water.
• Add the almond paste and milk to the browned chicken.
• Garnish with Julienned ginger.

Notes and Tips

• Use fresh ginger garlic paste
• You may substitute the almond milk with coconut milk
• Brown the chicken well before adding the almond milk
• Use coconut oil for a unique flavor