I found a lovely recipe for Pepper Chicken Curry on the blogosphere the other day - a lovely twist on a classic Indian chicken curry.

My hubby’s aunt and uncle were coming over for dinner so I decided to cook it for them. While the ingredients were really ordinary, I realised on my way home from work that I didn’t have the required fennel seeds (saunf).

All I had was panch phoron, a mix of spice seeds used liberally in Bengali cooking. But I came up with an ingenious though slightly devious plan.

As hubby’s uncle and aunt arrived, I sat them in the kitchen with me. Then I gave them both the pack of panch phoron and got them to separate the fennel seeds from the others. All this while we were chatting away and I was cutting the onions and tomato.

This recipe was so delicious and simple. Even my little helpers thought it was every bit their effort. I would highly recommend it. Thanks Sailu!

It serves 6:

1 kg chicken ( I used pre-packed thighs and drumsticks, skinned)

2 large onions

2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

3-4 green chillies, slit lengthwise

1 large tomato

Half tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp ground fennel seeds

1 tsp ground pepper

1 tsp garam masala powder

Fresh coriander

2 tbsp sunflower oil

Salt to taste

Heat oil and fry the onions until translucent. Add the green chillies and ginger-garlic paste. When the mixture starts going brown, add the chicken and fry on a high heat for five minutes or until chite on all sides.

Add all the masala powders, apart from the garam masala. Fry for five minutes and then add the tomato, chopped roughly. Keep the pan on a medium heat and stir from time to time until the chicken is cooked.

There is no need to add water, unless the chicken starts getting stuck to the bottom of the pan. Just finish off by mixing in the garam masala and adding salt to taste. I decorated this with the fresh coriander leaves for added glamour, just before serving.