Wash and clean chicken thoroughly under running water. Pat dry it with kitchen tissue. Marinate chicken for 30 minutes with the ingredients mentioned under marination.

Gather all whole spices required.

Place a wok on medium heat and add oil to heat up . Add bay leaves, green cardamom pods, black cardamom pod, cloves and cinnamon stick. Saute for 10 seconds.

Add cumin seeds, fennel seeds and curry leaves. Let them sizzle for 20 seconds.

Add chopped onion and saute for 2- 3 minutes until it becomes golden in colour.

Then add chopped tomato and cook for another 2-3 minutes till they become mushy.

Once mixture is cooked and starts to ooze oil. Add garam masala, coriander powder, black pepper and salt to taste.

Remember we added salt in marination so adjust the quantity here.

Saute the mixture for about 1-2 minutes on low heat until raw aroma of spice goes away.

Add marinated chicken and mix with spice mixture. Cover the wok with a lid and allow chicken to cook on low heat. It will take around 5-6 minutes.

I didn't add any water. chicken is cooked in its own moisture. But if you want gravy and don't want to make dry chicken, go head and add water to adjust consistency. When chicken is cooked, put the lid off and fry chicken on high flame to dry up. Switch off the gas.

Serve delicious pepper chicken with phulka or whole wheat naan.