Malabar Chicken Curry
First post of the new year!!
I wanted to post something which is a “pakka” kerala dish as the first post of this year. This has something to do with a new year resolution ( I dont know whether I should call it a resolution because usually my resolutions backfire :( ) Anyways, this year I want to give some priority to Kerala dishes. Though I’ve posted many Kerala recipes, I still get feedback or requests for more and more Kerala dishes. But…if you go through my Kerala recipes, you can see that majority of them are non veg recipes. Apart from a few veg curries that I usually make, I dont venture much into Kerala style veggies…however I hope I will try some veg curries this year.
I made this chicken curry for new year lunch along with ghee rice. Since I wanted to make something”nadan” I was going through my Kerala cookery books. I have this habit of marking the recipes in the book, which I want to try and after trying it I make a note also about whether I liked it, whether I added something extra, cooking time etc; That’s one habit I got from my cooking guru, my aunty, Tesschechy and I found it quite useful too, because I might be making that recipe again after a long gap and this notes helps me a lot.
Enough of this & that…lets go to the recipe. It’s a spicy one and we enjoyed its sight, aroma and taste :)
Here is the recipe:
- Chicken – 1kg
- Small onion- 200 gm, sliced
- Dried red chili -100 gm
Whole coriander – 100 gm
Ginger – 100 gm, chopped
Garlic – 50 gm, chopped - Coconut – 1, grated
- Onion -1/2 kg, thinly sliced
Green chili – 10, slit lengthwise - Tomato – 1/4 kg
- Turmeric powder – 1/2-1 tsp
- Small onion – 10, sliced
Chili powder – 1/2 -1 tsp - Curry leaves
Salt
Coconut oil
Heat oil in a pan and saute curry leaves & 200 gm small onion, sliced. After a few minutes add number 3 ingredients. When it is fried well, add grated coconut, mix well. Fry it till the coconut becomes golden brown. Let it cool for sometime. Add enough water to the cooled coconut mixture and grind to a smooth paste.
Heat oil in a pan and add thinly sliced onion and green chili. When onion is fried well add tomato. When tomato becomes soft add turmeric powder and salt & stir for a few minutes. Add the ground paste to this and mix well. Add cleaned chicken pieces to this, combine well and add enough water for the chicken to cook. Cover and cook in low flame and stir in between and cook till the chicken is done.
Meanwhile heat oil in another pan and add small onion (10) thinly sliced and curry leaves. Add chili powder to this and fry well. Add this to the cooked chicken and mix well. Serve hot with ghee rice, plain rice or roti.
Notes: I used Kashmiri chili powder for this. It’s a spicy dish, so please adjust the spiciness as per your tolerance level.
Other traditional chicken recipes:
Recipe source: Vanitha Pachakam Magazine
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Hi Maria,
I tried your chicken mappas curry and it turned out to be really yummy.
Now I am gonna try out malabar chicken curry. :)
But one problem- I am not sure how to meadure in gm or kg for the ingredients.
Can you please help me in terms of how many spoons of the ingredients I should use and also for the onions- how many small onions and how many ordinary onions? Also how many tomatoes?
This will be really helpful.
Please help.
Thanks,
Priya
Reply
Maria
Reply: on February 21st, 2010 at 7:39 amHi Priya
Glad to know that you liked the mappas. Thanks for trying it :).
Its been sometime I made this curry. However I will try updating the recipe, especially the ingredient qty part.
Is it ok if I give the measurements of spice powders like coriander powder instead of coriander seeds?
Coriander powder – 1-2 tbsp
Red chilly powder – 1/2 – 1 tbsp (depending on your spice level, you can increase or reduce it).
Onion – 4 big
Tomato – 3
Hope this helps….Pls keep in mind these are rough estimates..
Cheers
Maria
Reply
Priya
Reply: on March 11th, 2010 at 7:19 pm@Maria,
Thank you so much. I tried this recipe yesterday and it turned out to be really yummy.
Reply
Maria
Reply: on March 16th, 2010 at 8:46 amThanks Priya :)
Maria,
I loved the photo and I tried out the recipe. But mine didnt look anything like this. Is there any way I should saute it or add any other powders? My chicken curry is golden brown in color…sigh!!
Reply
Maria
Reply: on May 25th, 2010 at 7:57 amHi liz,
The difference in colour can be caused by:
1. Frying the coconut till it becomes golden brown. Since this is the base masala, if the coconut is not fried well, the color of the entire curry can be different.
2. Also i usually roast/cook the chicken a bit extra, so that the masala becomes a dark brownish color.
Apart from the above 2 reasons, I’m not sure why the color was different :(
I hope at least you liked the taste of the curry.
Regarding separating of oil from the gravy, sorry dear, i dont know what’s the trick, but usually once you add the masala to the curry and cook for sometime usually you can see a layer of oil forming on the top. You try cooking in low flame after the masala is added.
Hope it will come out with perfect color next time :)
Cheers
Maria
Reply
Also what is the trick to let the oil separate from the gravy?
Reply
I let it fry for a long time and it turned dark. The oil did not separate but am good with it. The flavor was very good. I need to try it again and try to get it picture perfect.
SInce u like desserts, give this a shot. Its a cross between caramel custard and a cheesecake.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Flan-Mexicano-Mexican-Flan/Detail.aspx
Reply
Maria
Reply: on May 30th, 2010 at 5:04 pmHi liz,
Glad that you liked the taste. Hope you will get the perfect color too next time.
Thank you so much for sharing the link. I liked that recipe, hoping to try it sometime soon :)
Cheers
Maria
Reply
I tried your recipe and this curry was a hit at home. My hubby and son liked so much along with Chappthi & Appam.
I adjusted spiciness(used only 4 red chilly). I omitted the garnishing part as the aroma was so good that by the time I was chopping small onions my hubby & son started having it along with Chappthi, I also joined . Thanks for the nice Kerala recipe
Reply
Maria
Reply: on June 15th, 2010 at 5:48 pmHi Latha,
You are welcome :) Very happy to hear that your family liked it. It’s a nice combo with chappathi & appam.
Hope you will be able to do the garnishing bit next time :)
Cheers
Maria
Reply
Hello Maria:
I’ve been a frequent visitor to your blog for quite some time now, but never bothered to write in. But I think its high time that I did!!
I’ve tried out mostly your cake recipes which have been given A++++++++ certificates & huge “thumps up”s by my kids! Recently, however I tried out this recipe using veggies (as its our “noimbu”period now) & it was superb! Can’t wait to try out with chicken!!
Keep on posting new recipes!!!!
Reply
Maria
Reply: on August 16th, 2010 at 4:52 pmHi Anitha,
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback :)
Hope you will be able to make the chicken version soon and like it too. Btw, a special hi to your kids :)
Cheers
Maria
Reply