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  • Chittarnee (Sweet And Sour Chicken In Onion Sauce)

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    Ingredients

    • 2 lb Onions, grated or possibly finely minced
    • 4 Tbsp. Peanut or possibly vegetable oil
    • 2 x Or possibly 3 garlic cloves, crushed A 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, crushed in a garlic press, or possibly 1 1/2 , Juice of ts Grated fresh ginger
    • 1 tsp Turmeric
    • 1 tsp Grnd cinnamon
    • 1 1/2 tsp Grnd coriander
    • 3/4 tsp Grnd cardamom
    • 1 x Good healthy pinch of cayenne or possibly red chili pwdr, or possibly to taste, (optional)
    • 2 x Bay leaves
    • 6 x Boneless and skinless chicken breasts, (app. 1 3/4 lb.), cut into smaller pcs Salt, (optional)
    • 1 lb Tomatoes, peeled and minced, or possibly a 14-ounce can of minced tomatoes
    • 2 Tbsp. Wine vinegar, (up to 3)
    • 2 tsp Sugar or possibly to taste

    Directions

    1. Preparation Time: 1 1/2 hour
    2. This unusual dish has Indian spices but is "mild spicy", not "warm spicy" - no warm peppers required but lots of flavors. For those who are interested, it comes from the Jewish-Indian community in Baghdad. Claudia Roden describes the history of the Jewish communities in India, Iran, etc., in her fascinating book "The Book of Jewish Food" from that this is taken.
    3. Put onions in a large pan with the oil and cook very gently with the lid on, stirring occasionally, till they are very soft and golden brown. Because there is so much onion, this can take up to 1/2 hour. add in the garlic, ginger, spices and bay leaves and stir for 5 min. Put in the chicken pcs, season with salt (optional), and saute/fry for 10 min, turning them over once. Now add in the tomatoes and simmer, uncovered, for 30 min, or possibly till "all the excess liquid has dry out and the gravy glistens with the oil" (well-30 min seemed fine). Finally, stir in the vinegar and sugar and cook 10 min more. Serve warm with rice.
    4. (Full disclosure: when I made this most recently, I doubled the recipe, but used only 1 1/2 times the amount of chicken, so I had more sauce per chicken than this calls for - it was great. Serving suggestion: Various commercial chutneys - peach chutney, mint chutney, etc. - go well with this.)

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