Wash and drain the chicken; marinate with salt, ¼ tsp of turmeric, ½ tsp of chili powder and 2 tsps of lime juice.
Heat ghee in a hevay bottomed pot / Kadai and add the black cardamom, green cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves. Sauté on low heat for about a minute or until fragrant.
Add the chopped onion, the crushed ginger & garlic (or ginger garlic paste). Sauté until the onions go a light golden brown like you see in the picture below:
Add the puréed tomatoes and stir well; cook on low heat, with a lid on, for 5 minutes. The masala should have thickened slightly and changed colour to a deeper tomato red; add salt at this point.
Continue to cook until the moisture has evaporated and the oil begins to separate from the masala. Add ½ tsp of chili powder, ¾ tsp of coriander powder and sauté for a minute.
Add the marinated chicken and stir gently until all the pieces are well coated with the masala. Add 3 cups of warm water and stir gently again. Make sure to pour the water into the blender jar and then into the curry, so as to get all the tomato remnants! Taste check and adjust salt if needed.
Add the slit green chilies and simmer with a lid on for 8 - 10 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Its important to keep the heat low so as not to overcook the chicken.
Once the chicken is cooked, turn the heat off and finish with chopped coriander. The coriander here is much more than garnish and is essential to the fresh flavour!
Serve hot with steamed rice or fresh rotis.
