Kerala Chicken Curry

This is an authentic kerala recipe,which involves a bit hardwork,but very aromatic and is full of flavours.It goes well with appam,puttu,roti or even bread.

Ingredients :-

Bonned chicken cut ito small pieces – 1kg
Potato cubed – 1/2 kg
Tomato sliced – 1
Thin Coconut milk – 2 cups
Thick coconut milk -1 cup
Onion chopped – 1/4 kg
Green chillies slit – 10
Garlic cloves crushed – 5 big
Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder – 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp(for marinating chicken)
Poppy seeds(Khuskhus) – 2 tbsp (Soak it in water for 1/2 an hr and then grind)
Curry leaves – a sprig
Vinegar – to taste
Salt – to taste
Coconut oil – as needed

For Masala powder :
Whole pepper(Kurumulaku) – 4 -5
Cloves(Grambu) – 6
Cardamom (Elakka) – 4
Cinnamon(Karuva) 1 inch size stick – 1
Fennel seeds (Pereumjeerakam) – 1/2 tsp

Grind them together into a fine powder and reserve.

For Grinding:
Green chillies – 5
Shallots – 10 – 12
Ginger – 2 small piece
Garlic – 10 cloves

Grind everything seperately and keep aside.

Method:-

Prepare a marinade with pepper powder ,turmeric powder,1 tsp of the ground masala powder,salt and vinegar.Marinate the chicken pieces using this for 1/2 an hr preferrably in a refrigerator.Mix the ground poppy seeds in little water or milk and keep it aside.
Heat oil in a pan and saute half of the onion until it turns translucent.Then remove the onion from the pan and keep it aside.Add remaining onions into the heated oil and saute it for a while then add slit green chillies and curry leaves and saute again.Now add the ground masalas one by one starting with green chillies,then shallots,ginger and garlic while stirring continuously.Then add the ground masala powder,fry for a while and stir in crushed garlic and coriander powder.Fry it well until oil starts to seperate.Now throw in the chicken pieces and fry for 5 minutes in medium heat.
Pour thin coconut milk into it ,close the pan and let it cook slowly.(If you are using canned coconut milk,always dilute it by adding necessary water even for the thick milk).When the chicken is half done,add the potato cubes into it and cook again.When it is almost done,add ground poppy seeds and sauteed onion into it.Mix well,check for salt,add tomato slices,sprinkle pepper powder and simmer it for 10 more minutes.

Finally add thick coconut milk,mix well and switch off the heat.Let it stand for sometime and then serve hot.

( You can simplify the recipe if you are willing to compromise the authentic taste.
What to do to make the recipe simple :
1.You can substitute powdered masala powder with store bought garam masala powder.
2.Instead of grinding the fresh masalas(chillies,ginger,garlic & shallots) seperately,you can grind them all together.
3.Saute all of the onions together instead of doing it in halves.)

Recipe adapted from a Cookery book ‘Veettammakkoru Kaithoozhi’.