Chicken Kurma/Chicken Kuzhambu

This is a south indian style chicken curry. I got the basic recipe from a website "spiceindiaonline". If you want more gravy with chicken you can try this which goes good with rice/chapathi/appam/dosa/idly...

Ingredients:

Chicken	1 kg
Small Onion/shallots	10 to 15
Big Onion	1
Tomato	1
Ginger	3 inch piece
Garlic	7 cloves
Green chilly	5(slit open)
Chilly Powder	2 tspoon
Coriander Powder	1&1/2 tspoon
Turmeric Powder	1/4 tspoon
Garam Masala	1&1/2 tspoon
Salt	to taste
Coriander leaves	1 fistfull

For Grinding:

Grated Coconut	1/2 cup
Pepper	1 tspoon
Cashewnuts	5 to 7
Fennel Seeds/Perumjeerakam	3/4 tspoon
Roasted gram/Fried Channa/Pottukadalai	1 tspoon

For seasoning:

Oil+Ghee	1 tbl spoon
Cardamom	4
Cloves	3
Cinnamon	2 inch
Bay leaves	2
Curry leaves	2 sprig

Preparation:

(1) Wash and clean the chicken. Chop into medium pieces. Soak cashewnuts in water. Chop onion and tomato into cubes or pieces. Also chop ginger, garlic and green chilly. Keep everything  aside.

(2) Mean while grind the ingredients shown under "for grinding" heading in a mixer by adding little water (i didn't used roasted gram). Make a smooth paste. Keep it aside

(3) Heat oil/ghee in a pressure cooker. Add the ingredients shown under "for seasoning" heading one by one. To this add ginger, garlic and green chilly. Saute well. Now add chopped onion and shallots with little salt. Saute till color changes. No need to saute till brownish.

 (4) Now add tomato. Saute till it turns juicy. To this add chicken pieces with chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and garam masala along with needed salt. Mix well.

(5) Now pour 1 cup of water to it. Mix once and pressure cook for 2 whistles (in india chicken will cook in some 3 to 4 whistles, here in US 2 is fine :) Open the lid once pressure is released.

(6) To the cooked chicken add ground paste. Mix once and make a salt test here.

(7) Close the vessel with a lid and cook for another 10 minutes in low flame or till oil separates. Add coriander leaves and switch off the flame. Close the vessel with a lid for some 15 minutes before serving.

Have it with rice/chapathi/appam/idly/dosa..

Tips:

• Cooking time of chicken depends on its type.
• Addition of chilly powder depends on your tolerance level. The above one is less spicy which suits my kid's taste.
• Chicken tends to thicken once it is cooled down. Adjust water level accordingly.

For more non-veg recipes from shyama's tastes CLICK HERE

Malabari Chicken Curry

Nothing more to say about this recipe. Its a yummy nadan kozhi curry...

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Chicken	3/4 kg
Big Onion	1(medium)
Tomato	1(medium)
Ginger	2 tbl spoon
Green chilly	3 (medium)
Coconut milk(1st extract/Onnam pal)	1/2 cup
Coconut milk(2nd extract/Randam pal)	1 cup
Chilly powder	1 tspoon
Coriander powder	3/4 tspoon
Turmeric Powder	1/2 tspoon
Whole Garam masala(cardamom,cloves,bay leaves,cinnamon)	2,2,1,2 inch
Cashew nuts	15
Salt	to taste
Oil	1 tbl spoon
Vinegar	1/4 tspoon
Curry leaves	2 sprig

Preparation:

(1) Wash and clean the chicken. Chop into medium slices. Keep it aside. Chop onion and tomato into small cube shapes. Also chop ginger and green chilly. Keep it aside.

(2) Soak cashew nuts in water. Grind it in a mixer and make a fine paste. Also prepare coconut milk extracts. After that mix the ground cashew paste with the 1st extract of coconut milk (You can do this step in between doing the 3rd and 4th step, so that you can save time :) ) .
(3) Heat oil in a vessel and add whole garam masalas one by one. Add chopped ginger and saute for some seconds. To this add chopped green chilly and curry leaves. Mix once and add onion slices with little salt. Saute till color of onion turns brownish.

(4) Add chilly powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder. Saute till the raw smell goes off. Add chicken slices. Mix well so that masala coats well with the chicken.

(5) Now pour the second extract of coconut milk and vinegar. Add little salt. Mix once and close the vessel with a lid. Allow it to boil for another 12 minutes (Chicken will cook in coconut milk and its water).

(6) After 12 minutes chilken will be half cooked. Now open the lid and add tomato cubes to it. Mix once and again close the vessel with lid. Continue to boil for another 10 minutes. Now pour the combined cashew paste and coconut milk to it. Make a salt test.

(7) Let it heat for another 5 minutes. Garnish with curry leaves. Switch off the flame. Your malabari chicken curry is now ready.

Have it with chapathi/dosa/idly/appam/rice/naan... 

You can see my little one's interruption between the click :)

Tips:

• Addition of chilly powder/green chilly depends on your tolerance level.
• You can either prepare coconut milk from grated coconut or use store bought coconut milk.

Pepper Chicken Roast-Dry

I added pepper chicken masala a few days back. This is prepared with the same masala except the chicken is roasted here. This is a new version of chicken roast with pepper masala :) .

Preparation Time:10 min
Cooking time:40 min
To marinate:30 min

Ingredients:

Chicken	3/4 kg
Big Onion	1 (big, chopped lengthwise)
Green chilly	3 (medium, chopped)
Oil	to deep fry+3 tbl spoon
Pepper Powder	1 tspoon
Turmeric Powder	1/2 tspoon
Salt	to taste
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Cashew nuts	12

To roast and grind:

Coriander Seed	2 tbl spoon
Aniseed	1 tspoon
Cumin seed	1 tspoon
Dry red chilly	4
Cinnamon	2 inch
Cloves	4
Cardamom	3
Whole Black Pepper	2 tbl spoon

To marinate:

Ground Powder(roasted and grinned)
Ginger garlic paste	1 tspoon
Turmeric Powder	1/2 tspoon
Salt	to taste
Lemon Juice	1 tbl spoon
Oil	3 tbl spoon
Pepper Powder	1 tspoon

Preparation:

(1) Heat a pan and add the ingredients shown under "to roast and grind". In low to medium flame saute the ingredients till the color of coriander seeds and red chilly changes lightly say for about 5 to 7 minutes. Switch off the flame and allow it to cool. Grind the ingredients in a mixer and make a fine powder. Keep it aside.

(2) Clean the chicken and chop into medium pieces. Add the ingredients shown under "to marinate" heading (use half of the ground powder here and keep the remaining half aside). Mix well using hand. Allow it to marinate for about 1/2 an hour in refrigerator (if you are not in a hurry you can keep it for few more hours).

(3) Mean while soak cashew nuts in half cup of water . Grind it into a fine paste in the mixer along  with the water in it. Keep it aside.

(4) Now heat oil (deep fry) in a bottomed pan. Add marinated chicken pieces to it. Deep fry till chicken turns soft. Don't make it too crispy. Keep it aside.

(5) Mean while heat oil in another pan and add chopped onion slices. Add turmeric powder and little salt to it. To this add chopped green chilly and curry leaves. Saute till onion turns light brown. To this add chopped tomato. Saute till it turns mushy. Now add remaining half of the ground powder to it. 

(6) Mix once and add cashew nut paste. Mix well. You can make a salt test here.Now add the fried chicken pieces to it and mix well. 

(7) In the final stage close the vessel with a lid and allow it to heat for the remaining 10 minutes. Your pepper chicken roast is now ready.

Garnish with coriander leaves and have it with chapati/appam/porotta/rice…

Tips and variations:

• It is a dry item, but if you want as a gravy you can add half cup of water to it in the final stage (the taste will differ).
• Addition of pepper and green chilly depends on your tolerance level.
• If you under cook the chicken pieces (while frying) it will ooze its water in the final stage and if you have over cooked, it will lost its softness.
• Addition of lemon juice helps in marination.

Pepper Chicken Masala

Pepper chicken masala is for those who like spiciness a lot. It goes well with appam, chapathi, naan or rice...

Preparation time:10 min
Cooking Time:35 min
To marinate:30 min

Ingredients:

Chicken	1.5 kg
Big Onion	1 (big, chopped)
Green chilly	3 (medium, chopped)
Oil	3 tbl spoon
Pepper Powder	2 tspoon
Turmeric Powder	1/2 tspoon
Coriander Powder	1 tspoon
Salt	to taste
Mustard	1 tspoon
Curry leaves	1 sprig

To roast and grind:

Coriander Seed	2 tbl spoon
Aniseed	1 tspoon
Cumin seed	1 tspoon
Dry red chilly	4
Cinnamon	2 inch
Cloves	4
Cardamom	5
Whole Black Pepper	2 tbl spoon

To marinate:

Ground Powder(roasted and grinned)
Ginger garlic paste	1&1/2 tspoon
Turmeric Powder	1/2 tspoon
Salt	to taste

Preparation:

(1) Heat a pan and add the ingredients shown under "to roast and grind". In low to medium flame saute the ingredients till the color of coriander seeds and red chilly changes lightly say for about 5 to 7 minutes. Switch off the flame and allow it to cool. Grind the ingredients in a mixer and make a fine powder. Keep it aside.

(2) Clean the chicken and chop into medium pieces. Add the ingredients shown under "to marinate" heading. Mix well using hand. Allow it to marinate for about 1/2 an hour in refrigerator (if you are not in a hurry you can keep it for few more hours).

(3) Now heat a vessel and add the marinated chicken pieces to it. Close the vessel with a lid and cook till it is half cooked say for around 7 to 10 minutes. No need to add water because chicken will oozes its own water. Drain the water and separate the half cooked chicken and water (You can use the drained water later). Keep both aside.

(4) Mean while heat oil in a wide bottomed pan. Add mustard. Once it splutters add chopped onion, green chilly and curry leaves with turmeric powder and salt. Saute till onion turns brownish. Add chilly powder and coriander powder. Saute till the raw smell goes off.

(5) Now add the half cooked chicken to it along with half of drained water. Mix well. Make a salt test here. Allow to cook for another 15 minutes. Saute in between.

(6) Saute till the curry gets dried and masala gets coated well. Your pepper chicken masala is now ready.

Serve it with appam/chappathi/rice/naan etc

Tips and variation:

• The curry will be more spicy. So adjust the amount of pepper powder or green chilly according to your tolerance level.
• It is a dry item. If you want it as gravy add more water or directly add marinated chicken to the onion gravy without cooking it separately. 
• You can also use tomato along with onion.
• Cooking time of chicken varies depending on its variety.
• You can use store bought pepper chicken masala powder instead of "to roast and grind" items. 

Chicken Fry-Oil Less

Chicken cooked in less oil and in low flame will yields more taste but you have to spend more time than deep frying. But its okay ryt :)...Try to make small pieces to ensure even cooking.  I want to add it long time back yet it remained in my draft. I love this dish and yeah the recipe is from my MIL.

Preparation Time:10 minutes
Cooking Time:1 hour
Serves:3

Ingredients:

Chicken	1 kg
Oil	1/4 cup

To marinate:

Chilly Powder	5 tspoon
Turmeric Powder	1 tspoon
Coriander Powder	3 tspoon
Ginger-Garlic paste	1&1/2 tspoon
Garam masala powder	1&1/2 tspoon
Salt	to taste

Preparation:

(1) Wash and clean the chicken. Chop into small pieces. To this add the ingredients shown under "to marinate" heading. Mix well. Keep in refrigerator for about 30 minutes (You can fry it without marination too).

(2) Heat oil in a wide bottomed pan. Add less amount of oil say it should form only one thin layer at the bottom of the pan. Now add the marinated chicken pieces into it. Close the pan with a lid for about 15 minutes and allow to cook in medium heat.

(3) Open the lid. Now you can see chicken oozes its water and it will mix with oil. Check the below picture. Again allow it to cook for another 15 minutes. No need to close the pan with a lid.

(4) After 15 minutes it will become dry and only less amount of oil retains in vessel. Check the picture. The chicken will be cooked now. The next step is to roast it.

(5) In low to medium flame allow it cook for another 20 minutes. Here you have to keep an eye on it. Saute the pieces for every 2 to 3 minutes and take care not to burn the pieces. You can close the pan with a lid in between. After 15 to 20 minutes everything will become dry and chicken might have roasted well. Check the pictures to know the changes.

(6) Finally no more oil retains and color of chicken will become dark brown. Your chicken fry is ready.

Enjoy with your favorite dish...

Tips:

• Try to use wide pan. Add oil just enough to form a thin layer at the bottom.
• It is better to use boneless pieces so that it can be easily chopped into small pieces. I used chicken with bones as i prefer it.
• Keep the flame in low to medium.
• Addition of chilly powder depends on your tolerance level.

Chicken Chilly Roast

This was my guest post in "HAPPY COOKING"….Roasting the chicken will always have a special taste.How about chicken chilly roast?????Try it :)

Ingredients:

Chicken	1 kg
Oil	to fry
Big onion(peeled and chopped)	2
Tomato(chopped)	3
Soya Sauce	2 tspoon
Curry leaves	1 pinch
Coriander leaves	1 pinch
Salt	to taste

for marination:

Pepper powder	2 tspoon
Turmeric powder	1/2 tspoon
Chilly powder	1 tspoon
Salt	to taste

for grinding:

Green chilly	10
Small onion	8
Ginger	2 inch piece
Garlic	12 cloves

Preparation:

(1) Wash and clean the chicken. Cut into small pieces. Mix with the ingredients shown under "for marination" heading. Keep it aside for about 15 minutes.

(2) Mean while grind the ingredients shown under "for grinding" heading in a mixer . Make a coarse mixture. Keep it aside.

(3) Heat oil in a pan. Fry the marinated chicken. Flip in between till both sides of chicken becomes soft and light brown. Keep the fried chicken aside.

(4) Remove that used oil and add 1 tbl spoon of oil in the same pan (if you are not so health consious you can use the same oil). Add chopped onion into it. Saute till brownish. Keep the fried onion aside.

(5) To the same oil add grounded mixture and saute till the raw smell goes off. To this add curry leaves and chopped tomato. Saute till oil separates and tomato turns juicy.

(6) You will get a "semi liquid" masala. Add fried chicken pieces and into this masala. Mix well.

(7) After that add fried onion and mix well. Make a salt test here. Add soya sauce. Mix well. Finally add coriander leaves. Mix once and close the vessel with a lid. Cook it for 5 minutes in low flame so that the flavor sets well. Your Chicken chilly roast is now ready.

Have it with your Rice/Chapati…

Tips:

• You can use the same oil for frying chicken pieces,onion and ground mixture. But not recommended due to health issues.
• Don't cook the chicken pieces too much while frying.
• I didn't used coriander leaves due to out of stock.