Instructions: Clean and joint chicken. If you dont like the skin, remove it.

Mash the ginger into a paste (or chop finely) and mince the garlic.

Heat oil in a large frying pan. Use "medium-high heat".

Break apart the star anise to release the seeds inside the arms. To the frypan, add onions, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, star aniseed, peppercorns, cloves, garlic and ginger. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

Saute until the onions are cooked but not browned.

Add the chicken, turmeric and chili powder and cook on a medium heat, stirring often.

When the oil starts to separate (the gravy will have oil floating on its surface), add the yogurt and cook till the chicken is done and the gravy is thick. Finally, add the fresh coriander leaves.

This is the basic recipe. Try varying the whole spice combinations until you find a favorite. The recipe doubles well.

NOTES:
* Chicken curry -

This recipe is the real thing. Throw out your curry powder: youll never use it again once youve tried this recipe. Chicken curry using the real spices cannot be beat!!

Yield: serves 2-3.

* A cardamom pod is not the same thing as a cardamom seed. Make sure you get the pods. A pod is about the size of a pea and contains seeds inside it. Dont substitute the ground version of any of the whole spices, the effect will not be the same. And dont use white cardamom pods.

* You may want to remove the smaller whole spices prior to adding the yogurt so that unwitting guests dont eat them. Try the recommended quantity of garlic. The flavour is surprisingly subtle. More yogurt makes more gravy. Also a longer cooking time. Vary the amount of chilies to suit your taste.

This recipe is medium-hot. I hope this satisfies your mouth-hunger. The spice quantities may be varied to suit your preferences.

Difficulty: easy, though timing matters when cooking the onions.

Time: 20 minutes preparation, 1 1/2 hours cooking.

Precision: measure the oil.

It is better to travel happily than to arrive

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