The joy of harvesting your own greens and incorporating them into your meals is so satisfying, and with that comes such a great sense of achievement. It is just our 2nd year into kitchen gardening and we are still learning with trial and error but we have had sweet small successes, and one of them is growing fenugreek. Also known as methi leaves in India, fenugreek are extremely nutritious and packed with vitamins, and not too mention they are easy to grow. I harvested some this week and decided to make this very simple and tasty chicken curry with fenugreek leaves. If you do not have fenugreek you could substitute with baby spinach and/or tender mustard greens.

Ingredients

2 pounds of chicken (I used skinless bone in chicken you may choose boneless with varying cooking times )

2 cups packed with fenugreek leaves washed and chopped (you may substitute with spinach or mustard or both )

1 bay leaf

3 peppercorns

1 green cardamom

2 cloves

1 2 inch cinnamon stick

1 tsp of cumin seeds

3 to 4 tbs oil

1 large onion finely chopped

1 inch piece ginger grated

3 to 4 cloves of garlic grated

1 green chili slit lengthwise (optional)

11/2 tbs coriander powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 chopped tomato

2tbs of plain yogurt (optional)

1 tsp cayenne powder ( add more if u like it spicy )

1/4 cup water

salt to taste

Heat a dutch oven or a wok over a medium flame and add oil. Once the oil is hot add the cardamom, cumin, bayleaf, peppercorn and cinnamon stick and after a few seconds add the chopped onion. Saute until they turn golden in color on the edges, then add the grated ginger and garlic. Again saute for a few seconds at this stage add the chicken pieces, the powdered spices, yogurt (if using) along with the salt. Turn up the flame to high and sear the meat, stirring it for a couple minutes. Now add the greens and tomato and sear this for another 30 seconds stirring it. After this add 1/4th cup of water, cover and cook on low flame for 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot with steam rice or any bread of choice.