Chicken Pickle

Having been in Andhra for many years, it is but natural that I developed a taste for pickles. My mom's kitchen, till date, has at least 5 bottles of pickles at all times of the year. Its convenient for her because she gets to make seasonal pickles like Mango, Amla etc in the respective seasons. Now that I relocated, I mostly end up buying pickles from stores.
So, I made chicken pickle the other day and, boy oh boy, it sure did come out well.

Ingredients:

Cloves: 8

Cardamom: 3

Cinnamon: 1 inch

Mustard seeds: 1 tsp

Coriander seeds: 1 1/2 tbsp

Cumin seeds: 1/4 tsp

Poppy seeds  (optional): 2 tbsp

Dry roast all the above ingredients separately and fine grind them. Keep aside.

You will also need 8 tsp of red chili powder (or 10, according to require spice level) and 1 tbsp of lemon juice. 

Chicken (boneless): 1 lb (A little under 1/2 kg)
Turmeric powder: 1/8 tsp
Oil: 1/4 cup

Cut the chicken in to the desired shape and boil the chicken pieces until tender with turmeric powder and drain. Now, heat 1/4 cup of oil in a pan and roast the pieces until they turn slightly brown.Shouldn't take long at all. To this chicken, add the ground spices, red chili powder. Add salt according to your taste.
At this point you can add more oil if you think its too dry. 
Mix in lemon juice and stir for another 2 minutes.

For tadka:
Oil: (again) 5 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 2 tsp
Red Chilies (optional): 4 
Curry leaves: 2 strings

Roast the above in a pan and to the chicken pickle.
Let this cool completely and store in a container with tight lid. You can also refrigerate this. This can store well for even 8 weeks!