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Saturday, February 8, 2014

Chettinad Chicken

I did it. Chettinad Chicken has been on my 'To-Do' list for the longest possible time. And I had kept on procrastinating till i ran out of gravy chicken recipes. A quick look at my drafts revealed quite a few recipes that I had bookmarked for sometime. And the first one happened to be this rich and delectable South indian style curry.

Chettinad happens to be a part of the state of Tamil Nadu and it is quite known for its rich and aromatic cuisine. A flourishing traders community known as the 'Chettiars' are attributed with the distinct 'Chettinad Cuisine'. The famous saying in South India 'One is lucky to eat like a Chettiar' bears testimony to the rich culinary heritage of this region. And Chettinad Chicken happens to be one of the more (if not the most) famous non-vegetarian recipes from this region. Read on:

















Preparation Time - 50 mins - 1 hr

Ingredients -1/2 kg skinless chicken, 1 large onion + 1 medium sized onion, 1 large tomato, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp lime juice, 5 tsp oil, 2 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1/2 tsp chilli powder, salt to taste, chopped coriander for the garnish.

For the masala - 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tbsp poppy seeds, 2 red chillis, 1 tsp peppercorns, 1/2 inch cinnamon, 2 cloves, 1 green cardamon, 1 petal of star anise, 1 petal of mace, 1 pinch nutmeg, 3 tbsp freshly grated coconut.

Preparation - Marinate the chicken with salt, turmeric and lime juice. Keep aside for 1-2 hours.

Cut the onion into thin slices. Chop the tomato into small pieces.

Cooking - Dry roast all the masalas except for star anise, mace, nutmeg and coconut. (Better to roast each masala/spice separately till it gives off its distinct fragrance but if one is running short of time roast them together taking care not to burn any of it.)

Dry roast the coconut separately. Allow all the roasted masalas and coconut to cool down. Then combine and grind into a coarse powder. Add the ginger garlic paste to this powder.

Heat the oil in a wok. Add curry leaves and sliced onions. Fry on low flame till onion turns light brown.

Add the masala paste along with nutmeg, mace and star anise. Fry for 3 minutes.

Add the tomato pieces with chilli powder and a little salt. Cook till tomatoes turn tender and start to leave oil.

Add the chicken pieces. Cook covered on medium to high flame for 5-6 minutes,stirring once or twice in between.

Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of boiling water to the chicken. Simmer for 5-6 minutes or till the chicken pieces are tender.

Switch off flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with paratha/appam or even white rice.


















Note - I used only 2/3 of the total ground masala as i find it rather spicy. But u can modify the quantity of masala as per taste.

3 comments:

  1. I love chettinad chicken ! Looks very rich n yummy !

    ReplyDelete
  2. looks very attractive and my mouth is watering. - jude

    ReplyDelete

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