Chili Chicken With Rice - Kerala Special Chilli Chicken Recipe

Chili Chicken

500 grams boneless chicken, cut into bite size pieces
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon pepper powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
To taste, salt

2 cups + 1 cup thin long onion slices
4 green chilies cut into rounds
1" piece ginger + 4 garlic cloves, chopped finely
2 sprigs curry leaves
2 tomatoes, chopped finely
1/4th  of a green capsicum, cubed
1 tablespoon soya sauce + 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon pepper powder
A handful to chopped coriander leaves

Sunflower oil, as required

Method:

Marinate the chicken with chili powder, pepper powder, turmeric powder and salt and let it rest for at least 15 minutes.

In a pan, heat a cup of oil (or as required to deep fry) to medium high. Deep fry 2 cups of onion slices till they are brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside. Add the marianated chicken pieces to the same oil, cover and fry over low heat till they are cooked. Keep fried chicken aside. Strain oil leaving behind a couple of tablespoons in the pan. 

Sauté 1 cup of onions slices along with green chilies, ginger, garlic and curry leaves in the remaining oil till the onions have softened well. Add tomatoes and continue sautéing till oil has separated from the mixture. Mix in fried onions, chicken, capsicum, coriander leaves, soya sauce and tomato sauce and let cook together for a few minutes. Finish off with sugar and pepper powder.

Serve as a starter or as a side dish.

Note: Adjust spice level according to taste.

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Daal Curry Recipe - North Indian Style Curried Lentils

                                         Valluvanadan Tasty Food

Recipe:

You will need:
1 cup toor dal/tuvara parippu/yellow pigeon peas
2 dried red chilies
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
2 tablespoon oil
1 onion, finely shopped
8 cloves garlic (the small kind), finely chopped
4 green chilies slit lengthwise
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon red chili powder
2 small tomatoes, finely chopped
3 cups water
1½ tablespoon tomato sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ cup coriander leaves, chopped
To taste, salt

Method:

Pressure cook the peas along with water till the peas are completely cooked and mushy. About 4-5 whistles should be enough.

In a pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds and dried red chilies and let the seeds splutter.

Add onions and sauté till they start to brown. Toss in garlic and green chilies and continue sautéing for a couple of minutes more. Reduce heat and add turmeric powder and red chili powder. Mix in tomatoes and stir till the tomatoes have softened. Stir in the cooked lentils along with some salt and boil for a couple of minutes. If you want the daal to be loose, add some more water. Add tomato sauce, sugar and coriander leaves. Boil for a minute more. Take off heat and serve hot with rotis or white rice.

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Nadan Kozhi Curry - Kerala Chicken Curry Recipe

The Naaden Kozhi Curry involves cooking the chicken in its own juices along with slightly bruised spices and fresh ginger and garlic. Once the chicken is juicy and infused with the aromatic spices, plenty of sautéed onions are added, along with fried slices of coconut, which is perhaps the most sought after part of the dish. The entire dish is cooked till the sauce reaches a bare minimum, and every bite of chicken is packed with the flavours of all the spices that Kerala is home to. For the authentic Kerala taste, coconut oil is a must.

Recipe

A.
1 kg chicken, on the bone, cut into medium sized pieces (approximately 30 pieces) and cleaned
1 tablespoon piece ginger, finely chopped + 8-10 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cardamom + 5 cloves + 1" piece cinnamon + 1 star anise + 2 pinches of mace (jathi pathiri) + 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, slightly bruised using mortar and pestle
1 table red chili powder + 1 tablespoon coriander powder + 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice
To taste, salt

B.
2 large onions cut into thin long slices
1.5 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 tablespoons ginger julienned + 2 tablespoons garlic julienned
1 sprig curry leaves
4 tablespoon oil, preferably coconut oil
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup thinly sliced pieces of coconut (1.5" long slices)
1 teaspoon red chili powder + 1 teaspoon coriander powder
3/4 tablespoon pepper powder + 1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder

Method:

Mix together all the ingredients labeled A, and let it marinate for 15 - 20 minutes.

In a large pot, cook the marinated chicken over a low heat till it is completely cooked. While cooking, add a quarter cup of hot water, if you find the chicken sticking to the bottom of the pot. Once the chicken is cooked, boil off excess juices.

In a large pan, heat the oil. Crackle the mustard seeds. Add ginger and garlic, and then toss in the sliced onions. Sauté the onions till they brown lightly. Add the chili powder, coriander powder and salt, and sauté over a low flame. Then add the coconut slices and curry leaves and continue sautéing till the onions have turned golden brown. Add the chicken pieces and continue sautéing till the onions have coated all the chicken pieces well. Sprinkle over the pepper powder and garam masala and mix well. 
 

This curry is quite fiery, as is the curry served in most homes in Kerala. For a milder version, reduce the quantity of spice and chili powder - drastically. Serve hot with rice.

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Malabar Chicken Curry Recipe - Nadan Kozhi Curry

This is the traditional chicken masala curry made on a regular basis in my mom’s house. She makes it when there are impromptu guests for breakfast with pathiris, or for dinner with neichoru or madikki pathiri.
For a long time, I had been adding variations to this recipe, but gradually gravitated away it, finally forgetting the original recipe. So it was a pleasure to get it back from my mom and start over again.
This chicken curry uses most of the whole spices locally available in Kerala, which in turn gives it its unique flavour, associated widely with Malabar curries. You could omit adding more water in the end to make it a Chicken Masala (Kozhi Varatiyathu).

Cooking time: 25 mins Preparation time is another 10 mins
You will need:
Chicken-2 lb, (750gm) cleaned and cut into small pieces.
Onions- 2.5 cups chopped (3 medium sized one)
Tomatoes-2 cup tomatoes (2 medium sized ones)
Green chilies - 6 chopped
Ginger–Garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 3/4 tsp
Red chili powder- 2 tsp (more or less as per taste..this will be spicy)
Coriander powder-3 tsp
Whole spices: 2”long Cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, 3 cardamom
Pepper- ¼ tsp (whole or crushed)
Leaves: Coriander, Mint, each a small handful, chopped
Salt - to taste
Oil-4 tbsp
Curry leaves – one sprig

Preparation Method
1. Wash the chicken and lightly toss it with lemon juice and rinse again. Drain well onto a slotted drainer.
2. Heat the oil in a large shallow pan, add the whole spices. Sauté till the fragrance fills the air and then add onions.
3. Fry onions till transparent and add chilies, ginger and garlic and stir well. Then add the tomatoes, all the spices and chicken and cook uncovered on low heat till water comes out. Do not add any water: it will prevent the spice powders from getting cooked. This will take between 10-15 minutes. Keep stirring to avoid the spices from getting stuck to the pan.
4. Add salt and the pepper. Check to see if the chicken is cooked. If there is no water, add ½ cup water and now cook it covered for five minutes to let the chicken cook well. Add ¾ water to make extra gravy and let it boil well. Add the leaves, leaving the coriander leaves for the last, after switching off the flame.

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Chicken with Roasted Spices Recipe - Varutharacha Kozhi Curry

Some curries are traditional... plenty of coriander, plenty of coconut milk, a whiff of spices, an amalgamation of masalas...They taste the best with the salty coastal air, the rush and the sound of rain...
But if its raining outside, making them at home and a taste of it with pathiri or puttu.... can transport you in a second to somewhere else, melding with the pumpkins, the September rush and the fall weather and the nip in the air....

Back home, where spices are plenty...... for some curries, coriander, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, (all the stuff our spice coast is famous for),  are roasted tossing and turning in a cast iron skillet over a wood burning flame till the spices get  fragrant and turn into varying shades of brown. Most of the time, (since it's a Kerala curry), some coconut  is also roasted, the shade acquired varying from light brown in Northern parts of Kerala to a dark brown in the Southern recipes.... then the spices and the coconut are hand ground to a fine paste (or blend in a blender now) to create what is called a "varutha"(roasted)" aracha"(ground) curry. 

Anyone nostalgic? As one friend sitting in Calicut said, it's the taste you can't beat...  freshly ground chilli powder, fragrant coconut oil fresh from the mills...etc makes a substantial difference, not to mention little cooking secrets that our mums and aunts are reluctant to part with..

or are you heading to get some pre-roasted imported coriander powder, some coconut milk , some chicken to try and simulate the curry here in a fraction of the time?

Anyway, this curry can be made as dry as you like or as "neetiyathu"( stretched )as you like.. meaning with lots of gravy. By doubling the quantity of the spices and onions etc, but keeping the same chicken, you can make it a curry with lots of gravy for appam or puttu.  Or keep it on the flame to make it a dry curry.  

My mom used to relate incidents of the old days in the "tharavadu" where the curry starts out with lots of chicken pieces but if there are unexpected guests, it keeps getting stretched till its more of a chicken flavored curry with barely any pieces. Contrast that with our plentiful eating habits now!!

Anyway, thought I would just update the blog just to keep it alive and kicking for anyone who is interested in following my recipes.:) This is not a full version or an authentic varutha aracha curry, but this is one of the ways how I make it.

You will need:
Chicken-1 ½ lb, (700gm) cleaned and cut into small pieces.
Onions-2 medium sized ones sliced finely
Tomatoes-2 plum tomatoes
Hot Green chilies - 4-6 as per taste
Ginger- 1 inch ginger, grind or grate.
Garlic  6-7 cloves.. grind or crush to a paste.
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red hot chili powder- 2 tsp (more or less as per taste)

Coriander, curry leaves- each a small handful, chopped
Salt - to taste
Oil-4 tbsp

Whole spices- 1 small piece of cinnamon, 1 bay leaf, 2 cloves

To Roast:
Grated Coconut-3 tbsp
Coriander seeds-2 tsp
Black Pepper-1/2 tsp

To Garnish:
Shallots-2
Curry leaves-7-8

Preparation:
Wash the chicken and lightly toss it with lemon juice and rinse again. Drain well onto a slotted drainer. Marinate with the turmeric, the red chili powder, ginger -garlic paste, salt and keep aside for about 1 hour or so. Roast the ingredients for roasting in 1 tsp oil in a skillet till nicely browned and then grind to a paste. If you are using powders, remember not to roast for too long as it will get burnt fast and you could even use coconut milk instead of grated coconut.

Heat the 2tbsp oil in a large  pan and add the chicken and shallow fry them on all sides. Remove and keep aside. Add a bit more oil to the pan..add the whole spices. Then add the onions and green chilies. When the onions start turning brown, add the tomatoes. Let them cook till they break down and then add the previously sauted chicken, the ground paste and saute well till the spices are mixed well and the chicken is coated with the spices. Add 1 cup water. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes till the chicken is cooked. Smaller pieces cook faster so depending on the size of the pieces, cooking time will vary. Open, adjust the taste and add more water or coconut milk if it looks too dry.

To garnish.. Slice the shallots finely and fry in coconut oil till brown and then throw in some curry leaves and pour over the curry.
Let it rest covered for five minutes to let the flavors blend. 

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Manga Pulli Recipe - Mango Curry

manga kuttan is one of my favourites...........during the mango season we often make it........here is the recipe Ingredients:

• raw or ripe mango-4
• buttermilk-1/2 glass
• grated coconut-1/2 coconut
• chilli powder-1tsp
• turmeric-1/2tsp
• cumin seeds-1/2tsp
• curry leaves
• cumin seeds-1/2 tsp
• whole red chilli-1
• salt
• oil
• jaggery(optional)-according to taste(I like it very sweet)

Wash the mangoes well and peel off the skin.Cut them into small pieces Cook mango with chilli, turmeric pdr and enough water(Don't use too much water.Otherwise it will become too watery).once it is cooked add salt and mash the pieces well. In the case of raw mango no need to mash.if you like the curry sweet ,you can add jaggery at this stage and mix it well.once jaggery has melted,add buttermilk. Grind together coconut and cumin seeds into a fine paste.once buttermilk is boiled add the coconut paste into it.cook it for a few minutes.remove it from the fire and season it with mustard seeds,red chilli and curry leaves

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Fish Curry Recipe - Kerala Food

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg medium sized fish pieces
• 1/2 cup thick coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek powder
• 3 tamarind piece/kudampulli soaked in 1/4 cup hot water
• 1cup water
• 2 stick curry leaves
• 1 cup water
• salt as required

For masala:

• 1 big onion
• 6no shallots
• 2 green chillies
• 1tbsp ginger pieces
• 4 garlic pieces
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 11/4 tsp chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 big tomato cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil

Heat oil in a pan.Add ginger,garlic,green chillies,shallots,onion and saute for 2-3minutes.Add chilli powder,coriander powder, turmeric powder and cook well.Add tomato pieces and mix it well.Then grind them into a paste.Mix this masala paste with the fish pieces in a pan and add fenugreek powder ,tamarind water,salt and one cup plain water.Close the pan with a lid .When it starts to boil,lower the flame.When the gravy starts thickening ,add coconut milk and curry leaves.Finally sprinkle some coconut oil on top and let it boil one more time.Curry is ready.

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Egg Curry Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 2 onion
• 1 tomato
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 green chilli(according to taste)
• 1 cup thick coconut milk
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• Curry leaves
• 1 cup water
• Salt
• Oil

Boil eggs and remove the shell.Heat oil in a pan . splutter cumin seeds.Add curry leaves , onion and green chilli.Saute till the onion become brown in colour.Add ginger-garlic paste and saute for 5 minutes.Add tomato pieces and cook well .Add all masala powders . Add some water and salt.Cook covered for a few minutes.Reduce the heat and add coconut milk.Once it is boiled,split the eggs and add it to the gravy.

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