Chettinad Chicken Curry
This recipe is from one of the most aromatic and spiciest cuisines of India - Chettinad! Chettinad cuisine, from the Chettinad region of the South Indian state Tamil Nadu, is known for its distinctly aromatic and spicy style. It has a lot of flavours going on, so finding the perfect blend of spices is the key.
Servings: 4 serving
Ingredients
- 500 grams chicken
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 3 medium onions
- 1 inch ginger
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 sprig curry leaves
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon oil
For Chettinad Spice Mix
- 1 1/2 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 4 dry red chilies
- 4 cardamom
- 1 teaspoon whole black pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 star anise
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 4 cloves
- 1/4 cup grated coconut
- tamarind 1/4 the size of a lime and soaked in water
For garnishing
- 2 sprigs coriander leaves (cilantro)
Instructions
- Keep the whole spices ready.
- Ingredients like cinnamon, cardamom and cloves, can significantly alter the flavour balance of the dish.
- Take special care not to add more that the stipulated quantities in this recipe.
- Wash the chicken pieces, and cut to small/medium sized pieces.
- Thinly slice the onions. Finely chop tomatoes, ginger, and garlic.
- Add turmeric, salt, lime juice to the chicken and mix well. Keep aside to marinate for 15 minutes.
- Dry roast the spices in a pan, without the red chillies, on medium flame.
- Once they start to turn brown, add chillies, and fry for 30 seconds while stirring frequently. The spices should turn golden brown.
- Now add the grated coconut, stir well and fry till the mixture is evenly golden brown.
- Keep the pan aside to cool.
- In a pressure cooker, heat some oil and fry onions till they turn tender.
- Add ginger, garlic and curry leaves. Fry for a couple of minutes.
- Add the marinated chicken pieces and mix well.
- Add chopped tomatoes, stir well, close the lid, and cook on a high flame on pressure cooker mode.
- Cook until you get the first whistle. Switch off and set aside to cool.
- Transfer the fried spices (it shouldn't be hot) to a mixer jar.
- Blitz the fried spices in a mixer to fine powder (do not add water).
- Once you have an evenly ground mixture, add 1/4 cup water and blend well.
- Add the tamarind water and little more water (up to 1/4 cup) and blend until you get a smooth, paste-like consistency.
- Now open the pressure cooker (Don't force open. Wait until the pressure is fully released), and transfer the contents to a pan.
- Add the ground spice paste and mix well.
- Simmer on a low flame for 10-15 minutes.
- Add more water if required and reduce a little.
- Check for salt.
- Finely chop cilantro (coriander leaves) and garnish.
- Serve hot with rice.
Notes
Cooking Tips
- To balance the heat, I used 3 Kashmiri dry red chilies, and just one red hot chilly. If you like your Chicken Chettinad fiery, feel free to replace Kashmiri chilies with hotter variants.
- I haven't used kalpasi (stone flower), one of the ingredients common in traditional Chettinad chicken recipes, in my recipe. If you can get hold of it, add 2-3 in step 7 along with ginger and garlic.