Teekha = Spicy, Kaala = Black. This is a dryish chicken gravy made mostly from a paste of sauteed onions; that's how it gets its blackish color. The spice comes from plenty of red chilli (cayenne) peppers and peppercorn seeds. Ingredients: Roughly 3 lbs whole chicken, cut in pieces, skin removed
4 red onions, medium sized
1 tablespoon grated coconut
5 coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 white onion large
40-50 peppercorn seeds
5 cloves
5 cinnamon pieces (abt 1/2 inch wide
ground cardamom (abt 5-10 cardamom pods
10-15 medium red chilli peppers
2 cups yogurt
Deghi Mirch powder (MDH or some other)
Oil (vegetable or canola)
Garlic paste (of 4-5 garlic cloves, or about 1 1/2 tsp of paste)
Ginger paste (abt 1/2 tsp of paste)
1 tablespoon tamarind paste
Cilantro for garnishing
Method:Clean the chicken and coat it with salt, deghi mirch (use judgement) and yogurt. Set aside. Cut the red onion into large pieces. In a pan, take 4-5 tablespoons of oil and add the red onions, coconut, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, red pepper, cloves, pepper seeds, cinnamon and cardamom as the oil starts sputtering. Fry everything well till onions are brownish in color. Grind everything in a grinder with tamarind paste, and water as required until a fine paste is obtained. N
ext, cut the white onion very fine. Again, take 9-10 tablespoons of oils in the same pan and fry the white onion until transluscent. Then, add ginger and garlic paste and fry a couple more minutes. Then, add the chicken and fry until chicken is partially cooked. Add the onion/coconut paste and cook on medium-to-low heat. Add water if mixture gets dry. Finally, add salt for taste. Add food coloring if desired. Add cut cilantro for garnishing as needed.
Serves 6-8 people