Chicken Masala

One of the good things of living in the Middle East is the amount of spices that we come across at the supermarket. However because of the Indian influence some of them are highly spicy and my level of tolerance is not really high, so I try to avoid the really spicy ones. I am even afraid to try one that is called "spicy chilli" that is so red that looks like a traffic light looking at me.

For today I decided to prepare a chicken masala, as it is a really simple and easy way to cook chicken with good and strong flavour.

Some recipes take longer than others and I hear people frequently say that some recipes take long time, and I totally understand that nowadays the time is more and more precious but remember that you are what you eat.
Is better to spend some time cooking and even prepare extra quantity that allow to have leftovers for the next day and save time on the next day, than to eat something that was fast and without flavour.

Our brain like flavours, if we had herbs, spices and time to our meals we eat with more pleasure and we will be easily full. Food without taste make us hungry.

The meals should be like life, full of colours and flavours :)

For example today while the chicken was cooking I used this time to do some bodyweight workout, and 20 minutes was enough to do my workout and no time was wasted.

Just make the best of your day :)

Ingredients:

• Chicken drumsticks and chicken thighs (although you can use the chicken parts that you prefer)
• 250gr of mushrooms 
• 1 medium red onion 
• 3 garlic cloves
• 3 ripe tomatoes or 1 can of peeled tomatoes 
• 2 teaspoons of masala powder 
• 2 whole cloves
• 2 cups of water (or organic chicken stock)
• 2 tbs olive oil 
• salt to taste

Let's do it:

• In a pot chop the onion, the 3 garlic cloves, the 3 tomatoes or the entire tomatoes can,  and the olive oil 
• Put it under low heat and braise it slowly, avoiding the onion to burn
• Add the masala powder and the whole cloves and let it braise for 1 minute more
• Add the chicken and the mushrooms and stir them well
• Add the water slowly or the chicken stock and increase to medium heat
• Add the salt 
• Let it cook in medium heat, for 25-30 minutes, and when you see that is already cooked turn the heat to maximum just for 5 minutes and then turn it off. Is important to stir the chicken frequently and check if it has enough water, you should add water every time that you see that there is not enough water on the pot
• Serve it with a raw salad, roasted vegetables or cauliflower mash to absorve the sauce of the chicken, that is full of flavour

Quantity: The quantity on the ingredients list was for 2 people, so if you want to increase the quantity of chicken you will have to increase all the quantities 

Time of preparation: 45 minutes

I hope you enjoy it. I do it quite frequently and I tend to make a bit extra to have left overs to the next day and usually I love it even more in the next day, the flavour and the texture gets more intense.

I present you today an amazing voice, Y'Akoto. I came across recently with this album and I found it so peaceful and happy at the same time. Her music has a effervescent fusion of Rock, Reggae, Soul and Funk and was the perfect soundtrack while preparing this chicken. 

Just let your body flow...

Namaste