If you prefer to make the chicken mince at home, then first wash the chicken thighs or chicken breast thoroughly and pat them dry using a kitchen towel.
Cut them into small chunks to fit into the grinder or chopper. Transfer the chicken pieces to the chopper/grinder and grind them until you get a sticky chicken mince.
If you are using chicken mince bought from the store, you can directly start from step 3.
Transfer the minced chicken to a large mixing bowl and add the ginger-garlic paste, egg, a dash of chilli powder, a teaspoon of oil and salt to taste.
Mix the chicken mince well with all the added ingredients either with hand or using a spatula until all the ingredients are just evenly distributed and mixed well; but do not over-knead it. You should get a sticky dough-like mixture of chicken.
Now take about a tablespoon of mixture at a time and roll it in a ball between your two palms. Repeat this until all the chicken mixture is used up.
Now take a frying pan and add about 2-3 tablespoons of oil to fry the meatballs. I did not deep fry my chicken meatballs; shallow-frying them works just as fine.
When the oil is quite hot, reduce the flame to medium-low, tip in the meatballs, arrange them in a single layer and fry them till they are golden brown on one side which would take about 4 to 5 minutes on medium flame.
Now flip them over and fry the other side for another 5 minutes until the meatballs turn golden brown on all sides.
Once the chicken meatballs are golden and nicely fried, take them out on a plate lined with absorbent kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.
For the gravy, heat oil in a kadai/wok. Add the chopped onion once the oil is hot and fry the onion on medium flame for about 8 to 10 minutes until the onion turns translucent.
Now add the ginger & garlic paste and sauté them for a couple of minutes so that the raw smell is gone. Next add the tomato puree and sauté for 2 more minutes.
In a small mixing bowl, add all the powdered spices - turmeric, cumin, coriander, red chilli. Then add a few tablespoons of water and whisk using a spoon to make a smooth paste of all the spice powders.
Meanwhile the onion tomato mixture should start separating oil by now. Add the spice paste to the kadai and sauté it on medium-high heat. You would need to sauté the spice paste until it starts separating oil which might take about 2 minutes on medium high flame.
Now add about a cup of warm water and season the gravy with salt to taste. Bring the flame to highest and allow the gravy to come to a rolling boil.
It’s time to add the fried chicken meatballs to the spice gravy! After dropping in the meatballs into the wok, cover it with a snugly fitted lid, reduce the flame to lowest and simmer the meatballs gravy for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to develop and penetrate inside the chicken meatballs.
After about 10-12 minutes, uncover the kadai and check the consistency of the gravy. You may boil off excess water if the gravy seems too thin. Check and adjust seasoning too if needed.
Once you are happy with the gravy, sprinkle the garam masala and switch off the flame. Your chicken meatballs in spicy gravy is ready to serve! Devour it with plain rice or roti/naan. Enjoy!
Recipe by Flavor Quotient at http://www.flavorquotient.com/2024/03/chicken-meatballs-in-spicy-gravy/