Chicken stir fry with Yellow Capsicum

A simple rice dish paired with a semi-gravy, almost stir-fry like dish is one of my favorite ways to enjoy a quick weeknight meal. I cook mostly vegetarians side dishes at home to pair along with rice on weekdays and try to limit eating non-veg to weekends but Manish and my little boy are chicken and fish lovers. Manish feels if he eats only veg meals two days in a row then he's on a diet :-P I donno how lil'Appu feels but he ceratinly doesn't eat his food as fast as how he does when he is served fish or chicken :-)

Anyways this dish was one of my quick experiments on a weeknight when I felt it would be good have some chicken and also make use of the lone Yellow Capsicum that got lost in the wee corners of the vegetable tray in my fridge :-) The dish pairs very well with simple Jeera Rice or plain white Basmati rice.

It's an Indianized stir fry, no soy sauce or ketchup or deep frying the chicken. I just used our regular masalas and cooked the dish without extra water and added the capsicum at the end after turning off the heat. The capsicum cooks slightly with the heat from the dish but still stays crunchy.  

It was the first time I'm trying a yellow capsicum, I've only tried the regular Green and Red variety. I must say I really liked the flavor of the capsicum which was slightly sweet yet not too overpowering. And not to mention the beautiful color it adds to the dish.

I used boneless and skinless Chicken thigh meat cut into small cubes. They cook quickly and stays soft and juicy once cooked. No extra water is added for the gravy. The dish is mildly spiced and is not overly spicy so it was perfect even for my 3½ year old to chomp down with the flavorful rice. 

Chicken stir fry with Yellow Capsicum

You’ll Need

2 or 3 Boneless skinless Chicken Thigh meat (cut into small cubes)

1 Large Red Onion , cut into large squares

1 Roma Tomato, cut into cubes

1 Tablespoon fresh Ginger –Garlic paste

2-3 Green chillies, slit lenghtwise

1 Yellow Capsicum , cut into cubes

½ teaspoon Turmeric powder

1 teaspoon Red chilli powder

2 teaspoons Corriander powder

1 teaspoon Garam masala powder

Salt to taste

Handful of Corriander leaves , for garnish

For tempering

1 Tablespoon Oil (I use Oilve oil)

1 teaspoon Mustard seeds

1 teaspoon Fennel seeds

2 Dry Red chillies

1 sprig Curry leaves

Directions

1.In a large pan, heat the oil and crack the mustard seeds. Then add the fennel seeds. Finally add the dry red chillies and curry leaves.

2. Add the ginger-garlic paste, red onions and green chillies and saute for 2 minutes.
3. Then add the spice powders : turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala. Roast the masala spices and then add cubed tomato. 
4. Finally add in the cubed chicken pieces, give everything a stir, add enough salt, cover the pan with a lid and cook on medium-low heat until chicken is fully cooked through.

3. Once the chicken is cooked, take off the lid and cook on medium heat until gravy thickens. Once desired gravy consistency is achieved add the yellow capsicum, give it a good stir and turn off the heat. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with Rice ( I served it with spiced Jeera rice)

-Manju