Re: Chicken
I think tamarind might cause it to be bitter. Hmm just saute the onions until medium brown. Add 1 spoonful of garlic and immediately add 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes. Add salt, pepper, red pepper, 1 spoonful of Dhania powder, a big pinch of zeera, 1/2 spoon red pepper, 1/4 teaspoon garam masala, 1/3 spoon haldi and a few loang..those things that look like like black pepper seeds with legs.. Saute till tomatoes cook down and then add the chicken pieces. Keep sauteeing until the oil nearly seperates. Add like 2 big spoons of yogurt. Keep cooking until oil does seperate from masala and it doesnt smell raw anymore. Then add a little water for gravy and serve over rice.
You can also use green peppers diced depending how spicy u like it. Or you can add a little bit of coconut milk at the end instead of yogurt and that gives a little bit of a different taste.
If doing all the seperate stuff is too much work, just buy masala packets...like Shan Masala for chicken is good, so is National.
the shan masalas are so useful when you don't have too much time to get all the ingredients together and they taste so good. Their ginger chicken and bombay biryani are really good....I haven't gotten a chance to try the other ones yet.