Garlicky chicken curry without tomato or yogurt, with potatoes

Mix the bone-in chicken pieces with a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of turmeric and the juice of half a lemon or lime; let sit while preparing everything else.

Crush a whole head of garlic with the ginger and a green chili in a mortar and pestle; no paste.

Heat oil on medium-high, add the chicken spread out, and leave undisturbed 4 to 5 minutes.

Stir briefly, leave a few minutes more, then stir from time to time until lightly browned and no longer red; remove to a bowl.

Fry the potatoes on medium heat until lightly brown at the edges; remove.

Lower the heat, add a dry red chilli, green cardamoms, cloves, black cardamom, cinnamon stick, a dry bay leaf and a teaspoon of cumin seeds; stir briefly.

Add thinly sliced onions with a teaspoon of salt.

Fry the onions on high 4 to 5 minutes, stirring continuously.

Lower to medium, cover, and stir now and then until the onions are caramelized, lightly brown and soft.

Add the crushed garlic, ginger and green chili and fry a few minutes on medium.

On low heat add the turmeric, Kashmiri chili powder, ground coriander and ground cumin with a splash of water; stir 2 to 3 minutes.

Return the chicken and potatoes; stir 3 to 4 minutes on medium-high, then cover a few minutes on medium-low.

Add garam masala and crushed black pepper without much stirring.

Add hot water to taste (about two cups), cover and cook on low 20 minutes or until the chicken is tender.

Remove the floating whole spices.

Taste; add salt or chili powder if needed. Stir in plenty of chopped cilantro and serve with rice, roti, paratha or naan.