Chettinad Chicken Curry ~ Side Dish for Chapathi

Last week was my little ones's birthday, he was super excited since the beginning of this school year. The mere reason of which was he could wear colour dress to school and take chocolates for his classmates and teachers. Sadly his birthday was always with Onam vacations for the past few years and this is the only year when Onam vacations got over early and he vcould celebrate it at school. Poor kid, his tensions... As kids we also eagerly waited for our birthdays. I remember till fifth grade I used to carry chocolates for my class mates and as I stepped in higher classes, the birthdays from chocolates shifted to samosas and soft drinks( for close friends during recess) in the school canteen. Nostalgic memories !! Gone are the days and the fun. Now the day only starts with what's for breakfast,what to pack for lunch and snacks.

Coming back to today's post is a chicken recipe. Its been quite sometime I posted a non veg recipe and here it goes- Chettinad Chicken Curry. The chettinad flavors are imparted from the dry roasted spices like our nadan chicken curry (Kerala Style Chicken Curry), check out if you haven't . I had already tried a Pepper Chicken chettinad. The curry serves perfect with chapathis/ naan/ rotis. The ingredient list may look long but the procedure is simpler and the only extra work is dry roasting the spices which you can do earlier and start making the curry. Love this curry with some hot phulkas !!

Preparation time ~ 25 minutes
Cooking time ~ 30 minutes
Serves~5

Ingredients
to marinate
chicken 500gms / 1lb
chilly powder 3/4 tsp
salt to taste

for chettinad masala
coriander seeds 3tbsp
dry red chilli 4-5
fennel seeds 2tsp
cumin seeds 1tsp
cloves 3-4
cinnamon 1 piece 1.5"
cardamom 4-5
star anise 1
pepper corns 5-6
poppy seeds 1 tsp(optional)
coconut grated 1/3 cup

for masala
onion 2 medium sized ,sliced or chopped
tomato 2 medium sized
ginger- garlic paste 2 tbsp
chilli powder 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
curry leaves 2 sprig
lemon juice 1 tbsp
salt to taste
oil 3 tbsp

Method

• Wash the chicken under running water and drain water completely. In a bowl, marinate the chicken with chilly powder and salt mentioned in the list 'to marinate'.

• Heat a pan and dry roast all the ingredients(except coconut)  listed under chettinadu masala for 2 minutes. When you get a nice aroma then add in grated coconut. Dry roast the coconut till golden brown. Switch off flame and leave to cool.(I forgot to add pepper corns so added 1/2 tsp pepper powder to the masala). Grind the roasted masala with some water to a smooth paste.

• In the mean time, heat oil in a thick bottomed pan or cooker. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute and add sliced onions and curry leaves. Add a pinch of salt and saute for 4-5 minutes until the onion is wilted and reduced. When the onions turn golden brown, add the chilli powder and turmeric powder. Add in the ground paste. Cook for a minute then add 1/4 cup water. Cook again and keep stirring till the water is evaporated. Add another 1/4 cup water and cook the masala again until there is slight oil oozing out of the masala.

• Slide in the chicken pieces and chopped tomatoes, mix well. Cover and cook on low flame (don't add any water as chicken leaves out water).

• Keep checking in between if there is enough water. Mix well and add half a cup of water if required (I added half cup water once the water reduced considerably). It takes about 15-20 minutes to cook the chicken. When the oil separates and floats on top of the gravy, then the chicken curry is ready.

• Garnish with curry leaves and switch off flame. Add the lemon juice (I added only a tsp though it is mentioned a tbsp), give a quick stir.

NOTES
* Add lemon juice as per the need of sour flavors. I added only a tsp of it.
* Though in the pic, I have kept 2 pieces of cinnamon and used but I felt the cinnamon was a little over powered in the curry so reduced it to one piece.
* Poppy seeds are optional, if you use then go ahead and try.

You may also be interested in trying out these chettinad recipes given below -
* Chettinad Prawn Curry
* Chettinad Egg paniyaram
* Chettinad Fish Fry
* Pepper Chicken Chettinad
* Chettinad Mushroom Masala

For more chicken recipes, click here.