Chicken Stew

These days I get mails asking me what’s special for Christmas @ MariasMenu. I started with the idea of posting chicken biriyani, then moved on to Kerala chicken roast and finally as you can see I ended up with chicken stew.

If you think about it, chicken stew or rather any non veg stew is an integral part of the Kerala Christmas menu. How can you think of a Christmas breakfast without appam & stew? It’s kind of impossible right?

Like any other stew this is also mildly spicy & creamy. It’s a perfect accompaniment for bread, palappam, kallappam or even pathiri. As I’ve mentioned before puttu & stew is also one of my fav combos.

I’d like to share something with you other than the recipe. You might have heard a lot about Kerala and its rich culinary culture from here and also from other Kerala food blogs. I want to share a write-up with you. This write-up gives you the picture of ” God’s own country & its culinary extravaganza” through the lens of a tourist. I got this link when I was searching something on the net.  Its a very interesting read or if you are not interested in reading at least check it out to see some beautiful pictures of Kerala cuisine.

Here is the link: A Culinary Journey in India

Hope you will enjoy reading it :)

Now the recipe:

1. Chicken – 3/4 kg (cut into medium size pieces)
2. Onion – 2 medium, thinly sliced
   Green chilly – 4-5
   Ginger & garlic – 1 tbsp, finely chopped
3. Potato – 1 medium, cubed
   Carrot – 1 small-medium, cubed
4. Cinnamon – a small piece
   Cardamom – 4
   Cloves – 4
   Whole pepper – 1/4-1/2 tsp
   Fennel seeds – a small pinch
5. Medium thick coconut milk -  2 1/2 – 3 cups
   Thick coconut milk – 1  cup
6. Cashew paste – 1 tbsp (optional)
7. Coconut oil
   Salt
   Curry leaves

Crush the whole masala (number 4 ingredient). Heat oil in a deep pan & splutter the whole masala. Add onion, ginger &garlic, green chilly & curry leaves. Saute till onion becomes soft and keep in mind that onions should not brown in this recipe. When onion becomes soft add chicken pieces, salt and potato cubes. Mix well. Add medium thick coconut oil and cover & cook.

When the chicken is half done, add the cubed carrots too. Continue cooking till the chicken is fully done. Add the cashew paste to the thick coconut milk & mix well. When the chicken is cooked completely add the thick coconut milk. Reduce the flame & cook for 5 -7  minutes or until you get the required thickness. Garnish with fried small onion/shallots & curry leaves. Serve hot with appam or bread.

Notes:  I used chicken with bones. The weight f the chicken given here is after cleaning. To make cashew paste, soak around 7-10 cashews in 1- 2 tbsp hot water for 10 mins. Grind the cashew along with the water to a smooth paste. Cashew paste is usually added to thicken the gravy & make it more creamier. To enhance the taste & flavor, you can garnish the stew with small onion & curry leaves fried in ghee/coconut oil. You can also make this in a pressure cooker in the same way.

Please check out the Christmas Menu too…

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