Chettinad Style Chicken Curry

I first had this fiery, deeply flavorful chicken dish as a friend’s home along with dosas and ever since hooked to it. I was told it’s a traditional Chettinad chicken curry and that there are quite a few variations to this recipe. In today’s version, chicken is simmered in coconut milk and gets its unique flavor from a blend of quite a few spices like fennel seeds, coriander seeds, poppy seeds, pepper corns, cardamoms and cumin to name a few.

Quite a bit of preparation goes into the making of this curry and there is no short cut method and if you have the time and the ingredients on hand, only then venture to prepare and please don’t compromise with the ingredients if you want that authentic chicken curry flavor.

Chettinad Style Chicken Curry Recipe

Recipe source: Revathi Aunty

Prep: 20 mts, Cooking Time: 25 mts

Serves 5-6 persons

Cuisine: South Indian

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Ingredients:

1 kg chicken, washed and cut into medium sized pieces

1 cup small onions, shallots (sambar onions)

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1/2 tsp turmeric pwd

10-12 curry leaves

1 cup coconut milk (extract from 1/2 coconut)

fresh coriander leaves for garnish

salt to taste

1 tbsp oil

Make a paste:

2 green chillis

8 garlic flakes

1″ ginger

1 tsp poppy seeds (soak in warm water for 10 mts)

Roast and make a powder:

1/2 tsp pepper corns

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

3/4 tsp fennel seeds

1 1/2 tbsps coriander seeds

6-8 dry red chillies

2 cardamoms

1″ cinnamon

6-7 curry leaves

1/2 tsp oil

1 Drizzle a vessel with oil and roast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, fennel seeds, red chillis, cardamoms, cinnamon and curry leaves on medium heat stirring constantly for 2 mts. Remove from fire, cool and grind to a powder.2 Make a paste of the ginger, garlic, green chillies and poppy seeds. Keep aside.3 Heat oil in a cooking vessel, add the small onions and curry leaves and saute till transparent.4 Add the ground paste and cook for a minute before adding the chicken and cook on high heat for approx 4 mts and do stir the chicken once in a while.5 Reduce to medium heat, add salt, turmeric pwd and tomatoes and combine well. Let the chicken cook in this for 4-5 mts, uncovered.6 Now add the coconut milk and transfer the contents to a pressure cooker. Pressure cook for 4 mts or until one whistle. Open lid and combine well.7 Finally add the ground masala pwd and cook for 3 mts. Turn off heat and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.8 Serve hot with white steamed rice, biryani, chapatis or dosas.

Note:

Adjust the green chillis, red chillis and pepper corns according to your spice level. Ensure that the chicken doesn’t pressure cook for more than one whistle, as it could get mushy if pressure cooked beyond the required time. In fact, mutton is usually used for this recipe but it tastes equally good with chicken.

Chicken Masala Balls

This is one recipe I have been wanting to blog this past month. I first tasted these delicious chicken balls at a friend’s place, whose mother-in-law is a cook par excellence. My queries on its preparation made Chandralekha Aunty invite me into her kitchen to share this recipe along with another dish, an Andhra sweet delicacy which I will also blog about soon.

Chicken Masala Balls

Boneless chicken pieces, onions, fresh coriander leaves, green and dry red chillis, ginger, garlic, cashewnuts and roasted spices are ground to smooth paste and shaped into bite sized balls and deep fried (can be grilled too). The grilled balls are absolutely perfect on their own and offer a healthy alternative but nothing to beat the crisp deep fried version..:)

Chicken masala balls have a hot and spicy aroma that fills the room while being cooked and a flavor that makes these party appetizers almost impossible to resist. I’ve made this recipe twice these past few days and I can tell you, it’s a keeper, guaranteed to add flavor to a festive day like Kanuma. Serve as a snack/appetizer or as a side dish with rice and curry.

Chicken Masala Balls Recipe

Recipe Source: Mrs. Chandralekha Sunkara

Prep & Cooking: 30-40 mts

Makes approx 30 balls

Cuisine: Andhra

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Ingredients:

1/2 kg boneless chicken pieces, cleaned and washed

1/4 kg onions finely sliced

8-10 fresh green chillis

5-6 dry red chillis (adjust according to your choice)

15-20 garlic flakes

3″ piece ginger chopped

small bunch coriander leaves, chopped

4 tbsps coriander seeds

1 1/2 tbsps cumin seeds

2″ cinnamon stick

3 green cardamoms

5-6 cloves

20 cashewnuts

salt to taste

oil for deep frying

1 Heat a tbsp of oil in cooking vessel. Add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom, cloves, cinnamom, red chillis and cashewnuts and stir for a minute till a nice aroma emanates the whole kitchen. Be careful not to burn the spices. Cool.2 First grind the roasted ingredients along with ginger, garlic and green chillis to a coarse paste. Next add the chopped raw onions, coriander leaves, chicken and salt and grind further to form a smooth paste like shown in the picture above.2 Add a tbsp of oil to the ground mixture and mix thoroughly before shaping into small lemon sized balls.3 Heat oil for deep frying. Once its piping hot, reduce flame to medium and place these balls in the oil and fry them to a crisp, golden brown color.4Serve hot with tomato sauce or green chutney.

Thank you, Aunty for sharing your wonderful family recipe!

Note:

The green and red chillis can be adjusted according to your spice level. The chicken balls can also be grilled for a more healthy version.