Dak bungalow chicken

Growing up in a vegetarian household, for the longest time, the only non-veg dishes I had tasted were the fish fry and the roast chicken at this restaurant in Jamshedpur, and the chicken they served at the Guest House. It was only when I read the name "dak bungalow chicken", and tried to research it on the internet that I realized that what the cook at the Guest House was dishing out was a continuation of the grand colonial tradition of "dak bungalow chicken". This is a mish-mash of a bunch of recipes, and tastes exactly like I remember it.

Wash and clean the pieces of chicken and pat dry.
Mix -
1/2 cup curd
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp each cumin pwd and red chilli pwd* and 2 tsp coriander pwd
salt to taste
Marinate the chicken in the mixture and keep aside for about 4 hours.

Fry in 1 tbsp oil-
2 medium onions chopped
6-8 cloves garlic
1 inch piece ginger
2 bay leaves
1 stick cinnamon
1 badi elaichi
8-10 cloves
till the onions turn a golden brown.

Turn off the flame. Take out about 1/2 the total quantity of the fried mixture (without any of the whole spices), grind to a smooth paste and return to the mixture.

Add the marinated chicken pieces to the fried masala, stir well, and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

Best with hot phulkas with lots of ghee.

* adjust chilli powder to taste