Easy Chicken Curry

I'm not really familiar with indian/pakistani food, but I decided that's going to change. I love spicy complex food so I think it's right up my alley.

When we go out to eat out with the kids, we tend to go for the usual because we simply don't what we would order if we'd go to a balti / curry house, and it's such a shame because there is plenty to choose from here in Birmingham. So when we went out to eat the other day we went to an Arabic restaurant where I noticed they also offered chicken balti. Now from what I understand is that balti refers to the pot the chicken (or meat perhaps) is cooked and served in, the description looked alright so I ordered it and it tasted fine. The downside was that it was way to oily, but it reminded me of a dish I made a few times years ago and totally forgot about.
I'm not saying it's authentic or anything, I think at the time I wanted to create butter chicken. This time I left out the butter and cream and added yogurt instead. Like I said I don't know much about curries etc, but I thought it was pretty tasty, next on my list is biryani!

I used skinless boneless chicken thighs, which are already cleaned and deboned available here and I prefer using it instead of chicken breast that tends to go dry. But you can certainly use chicken breast. If you have the time you can make it extra tender by marinating the chicken in the yogurt and spices then plop everything in the pan after you fried the onions etc.
For the fat I used olive oil, because I always use olive oil, but I guess ghee would be nice or use plain vegetable oil if you prefer.

Easy Chicken Curry
Serves about 3
500 grams (1 lb) skinless chicken breast, or thighs
3-4 garlic cloves
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 onion
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp coriander powder
1/4 piece of cinnamon stick (optional*)
120 ml (1/2 cup) yogurt, stirred
120 ml (1/2 cup) water
*I used cinnamon because that's what I had, but you can use a cardamon pod or a clove to simmer in the sauce or add a dash of garam masala.

Slice the chicken in small bite sized pieces and set aside.
Finely chop the onion and garlic and grate the ginger. In a wide skillet add 2 tbsp of oil. And heat over medium high heat, add onion, garlic and ginger and fry for a few minutes until softened, stirring frequently.
Then add the tomato paste and stir fry that for antoher minute, add the spices, cinnamon, and chicken and stir to coat everything. Season with salt and pepper. After you let it cook for a minute or two add the yogurt and water, let come to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium low and let cook without a lid until chicken is cooked through and sauce is reduced, should take about 15-20 minutes. It should be more like a generous coating then a loose sauce. Remove cinnamon, taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with basmati rice, naan or both.