Chettinad Chicken Curry

Chettinad Chicken curry

Chettinad cuisine is the cuisine of the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu state in South India.The chettinad cuisine is supposed to be the one of the spiciest in India and is famous for its use of a variety of spices. The Chettinad people love to use fresh masalas in their preparation which gives it a unique aromatic flavour. I love spicy food and so do my husband ,We hail from a place which  is famous for eating too much spicy food.  We had always tried chettiand dishes in our favourite restaurant "Anjappar" which is famous for bringing the food from famed chettiars to the whole world.
     I never tried making chettinad cuisine at home until few days back when I was just going through
my recipes diary  and got hold of  this recipe which was penned down long back from sanjeev Kapoor's famous TV show ,which I always use to watch and use to write down the recipes I liked.

Ingredients

1/2 Kg Chicken, Cleaned and cut in medium size pieces
1 Large Onion, Finely chopped
2 Medium Tomatoes ,Finely chopped
1Tbs Ginger garlic Paste
2 Dry red chilies
1/2Tsp Turmeric powder
1Tsp Red chili powder
1Tsp Black pepper powder
Curry leaves 10 -12 leaves
1Tbs Coconut  milk
 Salt To taste
3Tbs Cooking Oil
2Tbs Finely chopped cilantro/coriander leaves

For dry roast powder

 6 to 8 Dry red chilies (Use Kashmiri red chili for more colour)
 1Tsp Coriander seeds
 1Tsp Poppy seeds
 1Tsp Fennel seeds
 1Tsp Cumin seeds
 2-3 Green cardamom
 2-3 Cloves
 1  2" Cinnamon stick
 1Cup Grated coconut


Directions
 

• Heat a pan and dry roast  all the ingredients lised for the dry roast powder section. Roast until light brown and fragrant ,take off the stove an let it cool. Grind it into a fine powder.
• Heat 3Tbs oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add chopped onions, sauté until onion turns golden brown.
• Add Dry red chilies,curry leaves and ginger garlic paste and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.
• Now add turmeric, red chilli powder and salt. Add a dash of water to avoid spices from burning.
• Add chopped tomatoes and cook until oil separates from the masala.
• Add the chicken and mix until well incorporated. Cover and cook for 5-8 minutes.
• Now add the roasted and ground powder, black pepper powder and coconut milk and mix well.
• Add water ,adjust according to the gravy consistency required by you.
• Cover and cook until chicken is cooked and tender. garnish with chopped coriander.
• Serve with rice, roti or paratha.
• Enjoy!!!