Chicken in ground coriander reamed with fried button onions and rice

After a long outing on the previous day I was in no mood to cook the next day. Situations don't always work out in my favour and nor did I have the option of ordering home delivery. So I had to bring up something to the table or else I'd end up with too many cranky babies (my husband, my son and my brother if he turns up for lunch). I had lunch ready in a matter of minutes..a simple chicken and rice meal.

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1kg cleaned and cut into medium pieces

Coriander powder - 6tbs

Chilly powder - 1tbs

Turmeric powder  - 1/4tsp

Aniseed powder - 1tsp

Button onion - 15-20 finely sliced (otherwise known as shallots or sambhar onion)

Coconut milk - 1 1/2cups

Grind the coriander chilly and turmeric along with aniseed powder to a fine paste. Mix the ground paste with diluted coconut milk (2nd extraction of milk for those using grated coconut). Add the chicken and salt as required to the diluted coconut milk with ground masala. Cook the chicken for 7-10mins. Remove the partially cooked chicken and lightly fry in oil in another pan. Fry the sliced button onions till they are browned, taking care that they do not burn. Add half the fried onions to the cooked gravy. Once the chicken is fried put it back into the cooked gravy, add the remaining coconut milk and cook on low flame. Do not boil the gravy. Once the dish is cooked and transferred onto a serving plate, top with remaining fried button onions. The fried onion gives the curry a distinctive flavor.