Hyderabadi Chicken Curry

Had been months I prepared the delicious, wonderful, lip-smacking Hyderabadi Dum Biryani, the taste of it I could never forget. After so many attempts of preparing so many various kinds of chicken recipes, I once again decided to have the taste of the aromatic Hyderabadi spices; but I was not in a mood to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, nor I wanted rice in my dinner; so I retorted to trying making Hyderabadi Chicken curry. Made me remember the times when I was eating biryani, the same taste, minus the rice.. Ah! wonderful. So the recipe for the same goes here:

For the marination:

Chicken: 200 gms.
Yoghurt: 1/2 Cup
Ginger-Garlic paste: 2 tsp.
Salt: To taste
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp.
Garam masala: 1/2 tsp.
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Lemon juice: 2 tsp.
Green Chilli: 1 (finely chopped)
Mint leaves/Mint powder: A few/1 tsp.
Onion (sliced) : 1
Cooking oil: 1 tsp.

For the curry:

Cloves: 2
Cardamom (seeds) of 2 green cardamoms
Cinnamon Stick 1/2 inch
Sliced onion: 1
Cooking oil: 2 tsp.
Mint powder/Mint leaves: 1 tsp./6-7 leaves
Fresh cream: 2 tsp.
Saffron strands for garnishing

1. Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Fry them until they are crisp and brown. Drain oil and remove from heat. Keep aside to cool.
2. Mix Yoghurt with ginger-garlic paste, salt, red chilli powder, garam masala, cumin seeds, lemon juice, green chilli and mint leaves/mint powder. Mix well. Add the sliced onions. Mix and marinate the chicken in this mixture for about and hour.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Again fry them till they are crisp and brown, same as done for the marinade. You could also fry them together and save half for later, and marinate in half. Drain oil and remove from heat and let them cool.
4. In the same pan, temper cloves, cardamom seeds and cinnamon. Add the marinated chicken after 30 seconds. Mix well and let cook for 2-3 minutes. 
5. Add mint powder/leaves and mix well. Add the fresh cream and mix well. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes. Remove cover and add the fried onions. Mix, simmer for a minute and remove from the heat. Garnish with saffron strands and serve hot.