Cardamom Chicken Wings

I'm so stoked right now as I'm sharing this to you, though a bit in a haze and rushing to fix myself for an event later while finishing the dishes in the sink.  After finding a jar of this spice that I've been trying to find for years now, I was able to find one at SM Hypermarket in SM Aura.

I never really imagined how I will adore cardamom to bits.  I bought it in pods which was even brilliant.  When you open the lid, it will entice your senses right away and invigorate your being with its minty, woody aroma.  It's mainly a staple spice in Indian cuisine and have proven to be helpful in ayurvedic treatments.  To be honest, I've yet to search of its health benefits which I'm sure to be loads of.

With my love for this spice and Indian cuisine, I'm sharing with you an easy dish, a masala-based meat dish which is said to be good with curried vegetables and Indian breads.  But of course, you can have it with steamed rice, which we enjoyed tremendously with.

This version of masala was lifted from rasamalaysia.com but I replaced the boneless chicken with chicken wings.  A masala is a tomato-onion spice base, to which he cardamom pods (opened) were added.  Cardamom is also good in curry dishes and blends perfectly with spices such as cinnamon, turmeric and cumin.

Ingredients:

3/4 K chicken wings
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 ½ teaspoons peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
2 onions, chopped
¾ teaspoon cumin seeds
4 whole green cardamom pods
2 large fully ripe tomatoes, cut into 4 pieces
¼ heaping teaspoon ground turmeric
¾ teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon ground black pepper

Procedure:

1.. Pour the oil into a large skillet and place over medium heat. When the oil is heated, add the garlic, ginger and onion. Sauté until the onion is golden brown, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes.

2. Add the cumin seeds. Open the cardamoms and add the seeds and the pods. Stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the tomato and cover the skillet. Cook until the tomato becomes completely soft and mashed and is combined with the onion to form a coarse paste, stirring every minute or so and lightly mashing the tomato, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the turmeric, red pepper, salt and black pepper. Stir to combine. Cook uncovered for 7 minutes, stirring frequently. This is the masala (spice base).

4. Add the chicken. Stir to combine and increase the heat to medium. Cook uncovered until there are no signs of pink when you insert a knife though the chicken, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes.