Clean the chicken thoroughly and keep it aside. Now grind shallots, tomato, and ginger-garlic to a smooth consistency, each separately.

Heat oil in a kadai or wok. When the oil is hot, add fennel seeds. When the fennel seeds start to splutter, add ground shallots.

Let it cook in the oil until it turns color to slightly golden. Then add ginger-garlic paste and saute until the raw smell goes.

At this point, add green chili, ground tomato, and the spice powders except pepper powder.

Add a little water and cook until the spice powder's raw smell disappears.

Once the masala is cooked, add the cleaned chicken. Add the required salt and half a cup of water.

Close the kadai and let the chicken cook on a medium flame.

Once the chicken is 3/4th cooked, add pepper powder and stir thoroughly. At this stage, add water as per your preference.

I didn’t add water as we like thick gravy-style pepper chicken. Once the chicken is cooked, add chopped cilantro and remove from heat. Serve.