Heat a flat pan or tawa on low to medium heat. Add rice and green cardamoms and dry roast for 3-4 minutes or until rice turns slightly brown.

Add black mustard, coriander, cumin, peppercorns, cardamoms, cloves, and fennel seeds and dry roast them until they release their aroma and turn lightly golden.

Take them onto a plate and let them cool.

Grind the roasted spices in a grinder to a fine powder. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed deep pan or kadhai on high heat and add the bay leaves.

Add the finely chopped onions and green chillies and cook for 3-4 minutes until the onions are translucent.

Add cinnamon stick and ginger garlic paste. Stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add kashmiri red chilli powder, around 2 tbsp of prepared spice powder, and dried curry leaves. Stir and cook the mixture for 2-3 minutes to allow the flavours to blend. If the mixture starts sticking to the bottom of the pan, add two tablespoons of water to prevent it from burning.

Add tomato puree, salt and sugar to the pan and stir to combine. Cook for 2-3 minutes until oil starts to ooze out.

Add the chicken pieces and mix well to coat them with the masala or gravy.

Cook the chicken over medium to high heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring at intervals to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Add lemon juice, water, and desiccated coconut and bring it to a boil.

Reduce the heat to simmer and cover the pan. Cook the chicken curry for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is tender, stirring occasionally.

Check the seasonings and adjust them to your taste.

Add garam masala, stir well and switch off the heat.

Let the chicken curry rest for a few minutes before serving to allow the flavours to meld together.

Serve hot with steamed rice or roti.