I confess, I can’t cook without either ginger or garlic, although not always in combo. In my fridge at any given time, you’ll find peeled garlic, fresh ginger and a huge, honking bottle of ginger-garlic paste for when I get totally lazy. For this recipe, if you find the garlic is a little heavy, cut the amount by half and you won’t compromise on the flavor. Ditto for the green chilies. I typically use more because over the years, my threshold of tolerance has increased.  Red food coloring is not always a safe choice if you have sensitivity to artificial food coloring. Instead, use red pepper paste which has a vivid natural orange-red coloring that will work.
You will need:
1 lb cut up chicken (wash and pat dry)
or
1 lb white meat chicken cut into small pieces ( wash and pat dry)
Salt
1 Tbsp Ginger-garlic paste (Indian store)
or
2 clove of garlic, crushed and minced
1 inch fresh ginger, crushed and minced
3 green chilies, crushed and finely minced
Pinch of Garam Masala
Red food coloring
or
A healthier variation: red pepper paste (1Tbsp)
2 Tbsp butter
4 curry leaves (Indian store)
½ cup water
Cilantro for garnish

Method
Marinate the chicken in ginger garlic, green chilies, garam masala, food coloring and salt. Set aside for a minimum of 1 hour but no longer than 6 hours.  At this point check for sufficient salt.  In a deep pan, melt butter, add the curry leaves and marinated chicken and cook for ten minutes on medium to low heat. With bone-in chicken, cook until the flesh isn’t raw and the meat has browned slightly. Add water. Cook covered until the meat is thoroughly cooked and the masala (gravy) has formed. There may be a separation of the butter from the sauce. You can leave it be or drain it at this point. Add chopped cilantro. Serve hot.