Marinade
Place
6 cloves garlic
2" x 1" piece of ginger
1.5t salt
1/2t garam masala
1/2t turmeric
4T Yogurt
2 fresh hot green chilis (or 1/4-1/2 t cayenne)
in a blender and blend at high speed until smooth.
Place
3.5 lbs chicken, skinless
in a bowl and cover with the marinade you've just made. Let sit 2 hours.
Other preparation
Mix
1t loosely packed saffron
with
2T hot water
and set aside.
Cook
4 hard boiled eggs (mayeb 6 for our family, and only 2.5 lbs chix)
and set aside to cool.
Cooking Paste
Heat
8T cooking oil
in a 10-inch saucepan.
Cook
4 med sized onions, peeled and chopped
4t garlic
1" cube of ginger
in the hot oil, about 8-10 min, until onions brown at the edges. Put the results in a blender. Reserve the cooking oil.
In a separate pan, heat
1 T blanched slivered almonds
until they start to brown. Then add to blender.
In the same skillet, cook
1T ground coriander
1T ground cumin
until it starts to darken, but not burn. Expect some smoke. When done. add to blender.
Add to the blender
seeds from 4 black or 8 green cardamom pods
1/4t groudn cloves
1/2t ground cinnamon
1/4t ground nutmeg
1/4t ground mace
1.5t salt
1/4t freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cayenne (optional)
3T lemon juice
1/2c water
and blend to a smooth paste.
Brown
The chicken, with marinade still on it
in the reserved oil, plus
more oil, as needed,
over high heat.
Lower heat, and pour in
The cooking paste
over the chicken and spread with a spatula. Add
1 c water
to the pot and bring to a boil. Cover tightly and cook over low heat for 40 minutes, turning chicken 2 or 3 times, and basting with the sauce.
Peel
The hard boiled eggs
and 10 minutes before chicken is finished, put them in the pot, covering with sauce.
Pour
the saffron and its water
over the chicken and eggs
Continue simmering until chicken is done.
Serve with
Chopped parsley or coriander.