Marinate chicken with ingredients under marination. Keep it aside until needed.
Pour oil to a hot pan. Add cumin, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Allow them to sizzle.
Next add curry leaves and ginger garlic paste. Fry till the raw smell of ginger garlic goes off.
Add onions and fry till they turn golden.
Then add tomatoes and salt. Fry till the tomatoes turn mushy and soft.
Add red chili powder, garam masala and coarsely crushed pepper corn.
Fry everything well till the mixture looses all the moisture.
Add chicken and fry for about 3 to 4 minutes.
Cover and cook on a low flame till the chicken turns tender.
If the chicken doesn't let out enough moisture to cook, then add little water.
Cover and cook until soft. If you want to have gravy,
You can take it off while there is moisture. You can also pour 3 to 4 tbsp coconut milk.
If you prefer a dry version, cook without lid and evaporate the moisture in the chicken. fry till all the moisture dries up.
Serve pepper chicken hot with rice and Rasam. Squeeze in some lemon juice before serving.