Chicken Vindaloo

“Vindaloo” is a Goan speciality dish and can be prepared using any type of meat,prawns or even vegetables like mushrooms,cauliflower etc.It is a hot and sour dish with a thick gravy and goes well with rice/roti.Of all the vindaloo dishes i’ve tasted,I must say ‘Pork Vindaloo’ is the best.

This recipe is from my Amma’s favorite recipe collection.

Ingredients :-

Young chicken cut into small pieces – 1kg
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red Onion sliced thin – 2 cups
Tomato (pulp removed and chopped finely) – 1/2 cup
Tomato ketchup – 2 dsp
Vinegar – 2 tbsp + 2 tbsp
Garlic cloves sliced thin- 16 -18 small ones
Ginger sliced thin – 1 dsp
Sugar – a pinch
Oil – 1/4 cup
Salt – as needed

For Grinding :-
Paprika /Kashmiri Chilli powder- 2 dsps
Ginger cut into juliennes – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds(Jeerakam) – 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds (Uluva) – 1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves small – 10

Soak the above ingredients in 1-2 tsps of water and grind to a smooth paste.Keep it aside.

Method :-

Heat oil in a deep pan and pop the mustard seeds.Add onion into it saute until transparent.Add turmeric powder and fry for a while and then add chopped tomatoes followed by tomato ketchup.Fry it well in medium heat until oil starts to separate.Now add the ground paste into it and fry it again for few minutes until they are well blended and oil separates.Throw in the chicken pieces ,mix well and add the 2tbsps of vinegar and salt into it.
Do not add water into the chicken, instead cover it with a lid with some water in it and cook it gently in a medium heat stirring in between.As the water in the lid evaporates,it creates a moisture under the lid ,and it will drip into the pan thus preventing chicken from sticking to the bottom.It is a healthy way of cooking which also enhances the flavor of the dish.Don’t forget to fill the lid with water as the water evaporates.
When the chicken is done,add garlic and ginger slices into it and mix gently.Now you can discard the water and remove the lid .Continue cooking in medium heat until gravy starts to thick.Add the rest of the vinegar(eventhough it was there in the original recipe,I omitted this part as i doubt whether my family appreciates that extra sourness from the vinegar) and sugar,mix well and turn off the heat.Allow it to stand for 10-15 mts covered, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Kozhi Mulakittathu

A very simple and effortless preparation using easily available ingredients.Thats what i like most in this recipe.

Here it goes..

Ingredients :-

Chicken cut into medium sized pieces – 1/2 kg
Red Onion Sliced – 250 gm
Tomato chopped- 200 gm
Garlic paste – 2 tsp
Ginger chopped- 1 inch piece
Chilly powder – 3-4 tbsp (You can also use 2 tbsp kashmiri chilly + 2 tbsp red chilly )
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Coconut oil – as needed
Salt – to taste

Method:-

Clean the chicken pieces and mix it with chilly powder,turmeric powder and salt.Add little water and cook it covered in a medium heat.Keep it aside.Heat oil in another pan and throw onion slices into it.Saute it until onion turns translucent.Add ginger,garlic,curry leaves and tomato into it and fry it until tomato turns soft and oil seperates.Now add the cooked chicken into the gray and stir well.Add 1/2 cup of water and let it come to a slow boil.Simmer it until the gray thickens.Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with roti/rice.

Recipe Coutesy :- Ummi Abdulla (Vanitha Pachakam)

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’.

 

Hariyali Murg

This is my second entry to GBP Summer 2007 event hosted by Deepz,featuring mint leaves from my patio garden.This recipe is adapted from Kodali’s kitchen,its a chicken dish that posess a strong minty flavour with an appealing bright green color.

Ingredients:-

Chicken cut into small pieces – 1 kg
Red onion sliced  – 2 medium sized
Garam masala powder – 1tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Bayleaf – 1
Salt – to taste
Oil – as needed

To prepare marinade :
Poppy seeds – 1 tsp
Green chillies – 10 – 15(use according to your spice level)
Fresh grated coconut – 2 tspn
Ginger Garlic paste -1 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Mint leaves – 10 – 15
Coriander leaves -a small bunch

Grind all these together to make a fine paste and keep it aside.

Method:-

Add salt to the prepared marinade,mix well and marinate the chicken pieces for 1 hr preferably in a refrigerator.Heat oil in a pan, add bayleaf and curry leaves into it.Fry it for few seconds and add the onions, fry  until it turns into a golden brown color.Now add the chicken pieces and fry till oil seperates.Check for the salt and add around 1 cup of water and cook until the gravy becomes thick.Finally add garam masala powder and simmer for few more minutes.Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice/rotis.

Chicken Varattiyathu

As you might know i was a little busy with my in-laws.They went back last week pushing me back to my old routine.Now i’m forced to do the chores all by myself.So i’m here,lazier and heavier.And many thanks to all of you for visiting my blog and keeping it alive,and also for your kind emails and messages.I’m really glad to be back.

This is our new chicken favorite which posess a typical Malayali flavour,the recipe is from my sister,infact its from her mother-in-law.Chicken is cooked and sauteed in plenty of onions and spices until a reddish brown color is attained and it tastes great when coconut oil is used.

Kerala Porotta with Chicken Varattiyathu

The recipe follows …

Ingredients:-

Bonned chicken – 1/2 kg
Onion sliced thin – 4 big
Ginger-Garlic paste – 3 tsp
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Red Chilly powder – 3 tsp
Coriander powder – 5 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste
Coconut oil – as needed

Method:-

Marinate the chicken with 1 tsp ginger garlic paste and salt for 1 hr preferably in a refrigerator.Cook it slowly without adding much water(add 1 or 2 tsp of water just enough to prevent it from sticking),and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a pan ,add onions,curry leaves,salt and rest of ginger-garlic paste and saute it for around 10 minutes until onion turns very translucent and soft.

Add all the spices and fry it for 3 more minutes.Now add cooked chicken and fry it well till the chicken is well coated with the masala.Or else you can add the uncooked chicken directly into the sauteed masala and allow it to cook in the masala itself.

When a reddish brown color is attained,switch off the stove and allow it to stand for half an hour.Once cooled,the dish will turn into a dark brown appealing color.Serve with rice/roti.

This chicken dish when made into a gravy tastes great with puttu/Idiappam as well.Just add enough water or coconut milk and heat it for sometime.