Here is the pepper chicken recipe, finally! I’ve been getting requests for this recipe for a long time. Though I came across many recipes, I didn’t find any of it interesting to give it a try. I’m glad to say, the search ends here! Last time when I went to Kerala for holidays, I happened to see a cooking show featuring this recipe. It was a sunday and I was just lazying around, lying down on the sofa, surfing the channels. The moment I heard the word ‘pepper chicken’ on TV, I just jumped out of the sofa, got hold of a piece of paper that I could find and started writing down.
Sometime ago, when I was planning to cook chicken, I thought of this one and started searching for the recipe, but couldnt find. To top it, I wrote it down on a tiny piece of paper. How I wish everything had some kind of button or code attached to it, so that we can give it a ring just like the mobile phone & find it instantly! Dont you think so? Anyways… a few days later, when I opened my recipe diary, some bits of paper fell down. Tada! It was the pepper chicken recipe…
Though I started with the recipe on paper, I ended up with something totally different. It wasn’t intentional, but it happened just like that. Anyways, I’m happy with the end result. I loved the colour, the flavour… Let me tell you, it turned out quite spicy! You will get the sharp taste of pepper in the first mouthful itself. So please feel free to adjust the spice level to suit your requirements. Since this is a dry preparation, you can use this as a starter also. Btw, I somehow got the feel of a ‘thattukada’ (street food) food from this, may be because of the spiciness and colour of the dish.
Hope you’ll also enjoy this and wish you a spicy weekend ;)
Here goes the step by step pictures…
Marinate the cleaned chicken pieces with salt, pepper powder & lemon juice…
Crush the whole black pepper & keep it aside…
Heat oil in a pan & cook the onions, till it turns dark brown…
Add grated/crushed ginger & garlic, green chilli & curry leaves to the browned onions…
Add masala powders…
Add soya & tomato sauce…
Add 1/4 cup water to the masala…
Add marinated chicken pieces to the masala…
Add 1/2 cup water & let it boil…
Cover & cook till the chicken is done…
The chicken is cooked…
Add curry leaves & roast it a bit more…
- Chicken – 400-450 gms, cut into medium size pieces
- Pepper powder – ¼ tsp
- Lemon juice – 1 tsp
- Salt
- Onion – 2 med-large, sliced
- Ginger & garlic – 2 – 21/2 tsp each, grated/crushed
- Greenchilli – 1-2, slit lengthwise
- Whole Black pepper – 1¼ tsp
- Garam masala – ½ tsp
- Fennel (perumjeerakam) powder – ¼ tsp
- Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
- Chicken/meat masala – ½ tsp (optional)
- Soya sauce – 1 tsp
- Tomato sauce – 1 tsp
- Curry leaves
- Coconut oil
- Salt
- Marinate the cleaned chicken pieces with salt, pepper powder & lemon juice. Crush the whole black pepper (do not powder).
- Heat oil in a pan & add sliced onion. Let it brown. Add grated/crushed ginger and garlic, green chilli and curry leaves. Let it cook till the raw smell goes, around 3-4 mins. Add crushed pepper, turmeric powder, garam masala, fennel powder and chicken/meat masala (if using). Mix well. Cook for another 2-3 mins. Add soya and tomato sauce/ketchup. Mix well.
- Add ¼ cup water and salt and mix well. Add marinated chicken pieces. Combine everything well and make sure that chicken pieces are coated with masala. When chicken starts changing the color add ½ cup water & mix well.
- Let it boil. Reduce flame and cover and cook it till the chicken is done. Check in between, give a stir and add more water only if required. Once the chicken is done, remove the lid, add some curry leaves and continue cooking for another 5-7 mins on low flame, just to roast it a little more. Remove from fire. The dish will get a darker shade once it rests.
- Garnish with onion & lemon/lime.
