Chettinad Chicken
A very popular dish from the Chettinad region, this Chettinad Chicken has a finger licking delicious thick gravy. Read more about this dish on the intro, or scroll down for the recipe.
Ingredients:
| Chicken, medium pieces (rinsed and drained thoroughly) | 1 kg | |
| Oil, divided | 2 Tbsp and 1/4 cup | |
| Onions, sliced | 2 | |
| Ripe, firm tomatoes, chopped | 2 large | |
| Kashmiri chilli powder | 3 - 4 tsp | |
| Ginger-garlic paste | 1 Tbsp | |
| Bay leaves | 3-4 | |
| Dried red chilli, cut in two | 1 | |
| Black peppercorns | 1/4 tsp | |
| Curry leaves | 2 Tbsp | |
| Coriander powder | 2 tsp | |
| salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Fresh coriander leaves, chopped finely - to add at the end. | 2 Tbsp |
For Marinating the Chicken:
| Ginger-garlic paste | 2 tsp | |
| Turmeric powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp |
For the Freshly Ground Spice Mix:
| Fennel seeds | 2 tsp | |
| Cumin seeds | 2 1/4 tsp | |
| Cloves | 8 | |
| Cardamom pods | 5 | |
| Black peppercorns | 5-6 | |
| Cashew-nuts | 4 | |
| Cinnamon | 2 sticks | |
| Dessicated coconut | 2 Tbsp |
Method:
- Add the Ingredients ‘for Marinating the Chicken’ and rub well into all the pieces. Set this aside for 20 minutes.
- Heat a small pan ( cast iron or heavy based is best). Add all the spices for the ground spice mix and dry-roast while stirring, till you start to get the aroma of the spices. There should be no darkening of the spices.
- Add this to a small spice grinder and grind to a fine spice powder. Set aside.
- Now heat 2 Tbsp oil in a wide non-stick pan. Add the sliced onions and saute briefly. When the colour just begins to change, we add the chopped tomatoes. Saute well till the tomatos are softened to a pulp. Allow to cool off and then grind the mixture into a paste.
- Add the ground spices to the grinder containing ground tomato-onion paste along with the chilli powder. Grind/Blend once again toget your spice-masala paste.
- Wipe down the pan used earlier and add the reamining 1/4 cup of oil. Just as the oil is heating up add the ginger garlic paste. We add this before the oil gets too hot, to void a crazy splatter. As the oil is heated, stir the ginger-garlic till aromatic. Don’t let it go brown.
- Add the bay leaves and broken dried chilli, black peppercorns and curry leaves.
- Once the spices are added and the ingredients are sizzling, add the marinated chicken. Turn up the heat and toss the pieces well, till the pieces turn opaque ( no longer pink) all over.
- Now, add the prepared masala-spice paste. Toss again, to coat the pieces thoroughly with the paste.
- Add the coriander powder now.
- Also add more chilli powder now to get a richer colour if needed. Do this after checking for the spice level and only if needed.
- Stir well till the raw smell of coriander spice has dissipated and the oil separates.
- Wash out the mixer/blender, that was used earlier with 250ml of water and add to the pan, once the oil has separated.
- Do a taste test and add salt to taste. The chicken was already marinated with salt, so I usually add just about 1/2 tsp more now.
- Once the liquids have come to a boil. Cover, the pan with a tightly fitted lid. Lower heat to minimum and cook for 15-20 minutes. Open and stir occasionally.
- You should get a nice rich, thick gravy, that just coats the chicken pieces, keeping them deliciously moist and succulent.
- Add the freshly chopped coriander/ cilantro. Serve Chettinad Chicken with Rice, Chapati or Naan with a Boiled egg on the side.
Chettinad Chicken
Notes:
Key Ingredients: Chicken, Spices, Onion, Ginger, Garlic, Tomato, Curry Leaves, Cilantro (Coriander), Desiccated Coconut, Oil, Salt
EAT AND TELL!!!
Let us know if you tried – Chettinad Chicken
This chicken dish sounds mouth-watering! It’s on my list of recipes to try as soon as I can get the ingredients together!
Thanks Lisa 🙂 It’s an easy recipe. Hope you find everything soon !