Chettinad Chicken Curry

Chettinad is a region from southern state, TamilNadu in India which is acclaimed for Chettinad cuisine. The Chettinad cuisine is known for one the oldest and traditional cuisines in southern India. Now a days many restaurants include Chettinad recipes in their menu and the most popular recipe is chicken Chettinad. The specialty of this recipe is, masalas are made freshly from  herbs and spices.

I wanted to make spicy and meaty gravy for Idli which is my husband favorite combo. So I decided to make this recipe. This cuisine is known for its authenticy and most of the dishes are peppery which has a very strong taste. In order to make the masala, I gathered different kinds of spices like, cinnamon, cloves, mace, fennel, cumin seeds, pepper, red chilies, and coriander seeds.  A perfect blend of these spices gives it distinct aroma and a  sharp taste.

Ingredients

500gms of Chicken, with bones

10- 12 Pear Onions (sambar onions), thinly sliced

2 Large tomatoes, diced

4 cloves of Garlic

1 piece of Ginger

1 cup Coconut milk

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1 sprig of Curry leaves

3-4 sprig of Cilantro, finely chopped

Salt

5 tsp Oil

For the spice mix

2 tsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

4 red chilies

1 tsp pepper 

1 stick Cinnamon

2 Cloves

1 Cardamom

1 large piece of Mace

Method

• Dry roast all the ingredients listed under spice mix. Cool it and grind it to powder

• Make a paste of ginger, garlic and cilantro

• In a large pot, heat oil, add ginger-garlic-chili paste. Saute for few seconds and then add onions and curry leaves. Fry until it turns transparent

• Add tomatoes and turmeric powder. Saute until tomatoes are cooked

• Next, add ground spice powder and chicken. Mix well and cook for 10 to 15 minutes

• When chicken is half way done, adjust salt as per taste. Add coconut milk and cook for 15 to 20 minutes

• Add cilantro and serve hot