It is the season for the usual menus at the usual places that let the usual crazy staff parties in.

So, instead of making your life too hot to handle, why not spice up some chicken livers and create this fantastic masala?

Chicken liver masala

1 lb of chicken liver

4 tablespoons of oil

1 onion, chopped

5 cm of cinnamon, broken into pieces

2 potatoes, peeled and diced

Salt, to taste

90ml of warm water

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 small tin of tomatoes

100g of frozen green peas

3 green chillies

Half a teaspoon of Garam masala powder

Curry paste:

2 teaspoons of water

2 teaspoons of coriander powder

1 teaspoon of cumin powder

1 teaspoon of turmeric powder

Half a teaspoon of chilli powder

 

1 Clean the liver, remove all of the skin and cut roughly into 1.5cm pieces

2 Heat 2 tablespoons of oil over a medium heat and fry the onions and cinnamon until the onions are soft

3 Add the potatoes and salt and stir-fry the potatoes for about 2 minutes

4 Add some water to the pan, cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender

5 Heat the remaining oil over a medium heat in a heavy bottomed wide pan. A non-stick or cast iron pan is ideal as the liver needs to be stir fried over a high heat.

6 Add the garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds

7 Add the spice paste, lower the heat and stir-fry for about 2 minutes

8 Add half of the tomatoes, along with some of the juice, stir and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, breaking the tomatoes up with the spoon as you stir

9 When the mixture is fairly dry, add the liver, adjust the heat to medium-high and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes

10 Add the remaining tomatoes and the juice to the pan and stir-fry for 5-6 minutes

11 Cover the pan and simmer for about 8 minutes

12 Add the potatoes, peas, green chillies and the remaining salt and cook for a minute or two

13 Adjust the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for a further 5 minutes.

14 Stir in the Garam masala and remove from the heat

15 Serve with fried rice or rotis.