Crock-Pot Chicken Curry

This is a lazy man's redaction / combination of several different recipes for Moghul-style chicken curry. It makes enough for a medium-to-large potluck, or LOTS of freeze-and-nuke. Sources of inspiration were http://www.indiacurry.com, and Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery.

Ingredients:

5 lb skinless, boneless chicken

2 to 3 (to taste), 12-oz cans of diced tomatoes (I use the Italian-spiced ones, or the ones with Jalapeños, or one of each)

Olive Oil (Substituted for Ghee in classic recipes)

2 medium onions

2-3 Tbl minced garlic

2-3 cubic inches of fresh ginger root, peeled

16 oz yogurt

1 Tbl Turmeric

1 Tbl Cumin

1 Tbl Coriander

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Cloves

Red Pepper, to taste

2-3 Bay Leaves

Madras Curry Powder, to taste

Garam Masala, to taste

Salt, to taste

Procedure:

Cut the chicken up into bite-size chunks, removing and discarding fat.

Set Crock-Pot to high, for at least 4 hours. Start with 2 cans of diced tomatoes . Add the bay leaves. While they're heating, chop the onions and ginger root finely (I use a food processor). Grind any of the first group of spices (Turmeric through Pepper) that need it.

In a wok or other suitable pan, place 1-2 Tbl of olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions, ginger, and minced garlic until the onions begin to turn tender. Stir in the first spices, and fry for a minute or so. Add the onion / garlic / ginger / spice mix to the crockpot, and stir it in.

Add enough olive oil to grease the bottom of the wok. Brown the chicken in batches, scooping it into the crock-pot as each batch is done. When all of the chicken is in, add about a teaspoon of salt. Stir together, and let simmer at least 3 hours.

About an hour before serving, taste. Use Curry Powder to heat it up a bit, and Garam Masala to spice it up without adding heat. Adjust salt to taste. Stir in the yogurt, and let go for at least another 45 minutes.

Serve over rice.