Nadan Chicken Curry | Kerala Style Simple Chicken Curry | Easy Chicken Curry without Coconut - Type 2 :)

Nothing gives me more pleasure than the food I cook being wiped clean by my 2 boys :) And I'm sure that would be the same for every person who loves to cook, right :) Though we love to cook chicken in myriad number of ways, this is that recipe that we go back to every now and then mainly coz it's sooper easy (the basic Indian chicken gravy recipe) and my little one loooves it.. Even if I make it a little extra hot he will have this with the same enthusiasm and a little moist eyes ;) This is nothing fancy, just the basic onion-tomato base gravy and the normal spices simmered with lots of love :) 

During my initial days of cooking I never used to get the dense gravy in my chicken curry and it would be loose or watery. I always used to wonder what was going wrong and finally found that adding a bit of onion and tomato puree while preparing the base gravy changes the consistency. It was partly my laziness of grinding them to avoid washing an extra set of utensils that kept me away from that consistency for quite some time ;) So if any of you wondering why your gravy is watery, now you know! I love having this versatile gravy with practically anything from steamed rice / chapathi / porotta / appam / dosa / idly / idiyappam / puttu / ghee rice / coconut milk rice. Do try out and let me know which combo is your favourite :)

My other chicken recipes that you can find in the blog would be

Chettinadu Kozhi Kulambu
Chicken Masaledar | Spicy Chicken Masala

Coorgi Style Chicken Curry

Mughlai Chicken

Baked Chicken Pasta

Spring Roll

Recipe Source: Amma

Serves: 3-4 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 20-30 mins

Cooking Time: 45 mins

I Used:

Chicken	-	750 gm
Coconut Oil	-	2-3 tbsp
Onion	-	3 nos - medium sized (2 chopped & 1 for grinding)
Tomato	-	2  - medium sized
Ginger	-	A fat 2 inch piece
Garlic	-	15-20 nos (medium sized)
Green Chilly	-	2 nos - slit
Red Chilly powder	-	2 tbsp
Coriander powder	-	1 tbsp
Turmeric powder	-	½ tsp
Garam Masala	-	1 tsp
Salt	-	As Needed
Curry leaves	-	2-3 sprigs
Coriander leaves Water	- -	2-3 sprigs As Needed (½-1 cup)

The Way:

1. Clean the chicken and cut them into small bite size pieces. Cutting the chicken into small 2 inch size pieces makes it easier for the gravy and masala to sink in to the pieces and make them more succulent 

2. In a mixie jar, take the peeled ginger (15-20 medium sized ones), garlic (A fat 2 inch piece) and onion (1 no - cut into 8-12 chunks) and grind them to a smooth paste. If needed you can add 2-3 tbsp of water for grinding. Keep aside

3. Heat 2-3 tbsp of coconut oil in a pan/kadai. When the oil is hot, reduce the flame and add the 2 medium sized onions (finely chopped) along with 2 slit green chillies. Saute them well on medium flame till the onions turn translucent. You can add salt as well while sauteing the onions to help them cook faster

4. Now once the onions are translucent, add the ground onion paste to it and saute on a low flame till they start to turn brown. Keep sauteing occasionally else they might get burnt

5. Once the gravy starts to turn brown add the masalas - 2 tbsp red chilly powder, 1 tbsp coriander powder, 1 tsp garam masala and ½ tsp turmeric powder and saute well again. Keep sauteing for another 2-3 minutes till the raw smell of the masala goes

6. Meanwhile, roughly chop 2 medium sized tomatoes and add them to the mixer jar. Grind them to a smooth paste

7. Once the raw smell of the masala goes off, add the pureed tomato to the gravy and saute well. Allow it to cook for 5-6 minutes on low flame and keep sauteing occasionally

8. Then add the cleaned chicken pieces and give a nice stir. Add the required amount of water for your gravy and also 1 sprig of curry leaves. Keep in mind that the chicken will ooze water while cooking, so adjust the quantity of water accordingly

9. Cover the pan/kadai and cook in medium-low flame for 15-20 minutes till the chicken pieces and cooked tender. Keep stirring occasionally to avoid the gravy getting stuck to the bottom of the pan and getting burnt

10. Once the hicken is cooked, uncover the pan and add the remaining 1 sprig of curry leaves and 2-3 sprigs coriander leaves. Give a quick saute

Switch off the flame and serve the gravy hot with steamed rice / chapathi / porotta / appam / dosa / idly / idiyappam / puttu / ghee rice / coconut milk rice of your choice !

Cheers,
Chitz

Nadan Chicken Curry - Kerala Style without coconut - Type 1

Chicken cooked in onion, tomatoes & dry roasted Indian spices

All those regular readers of mine would know my love for chicken & how I love to prepare chicken dishes ! So here I am back with a basic & simple chicken recipe. This one is very easy to prepare, do not be taken aback with the number of steps, it's just a pinch of this & a handful of that from your masala dabbas/pantry & voila, you are left with a very flavorful & aromatic side dish that will definitely elevate your mild flavored rice or simple phulkas & leave you contented :) 

This is a personal favorite at home & Deeps loves to prepare this by himself, so as usual, I'm the happy apprentice then. This time we paired it up with 'Nei Choru' & we lost count of how many helpings we took while having lunch with one of our favorite 'House' series on ;) This is just one of the types in which Nadan chicken curry is made at our place. There are many variations to this which I will post in the future. So this time, try this out & let me know how you liked it :)

Other Chicken recipes:

Chettinadu Kozhi Kulambu
Chicken Masaledar | Spicy Chicken Masala

Coorgi Style Chicken Curry

Mughlai Chicken

Baked Chicken Pasta

Spring Roll

Recipe Source: Deeps

 

I Took:

Marination: 30 minutes

Preparation: 40 minutes

 

Serves : 3-4 persons

I Used:

 

For Marination:

Chicken	-	500 gm
Turmeric powder	-	½ tsp
Salt	-	As needed
Lemon juice	-	½ of a small sized lemon

To Roast & Grind:

Red Chilly	-	4 nos
Coriander Seeds	-	1 tsp
Mustard	-	¼ tsp
Cumin seeds	-	½ tsp
Pepper	-	½ tsp
Cinnamon	-	1 inch piece
Cloves	-	2 nos
Cardamom	-	1 no
Star Anise	-	1 no
Bay leaf	-	1 no

For Gravy:

Onion - 4-5 medium sized (sliced) Tomato - 2 medium sized (sliced) Green Chilly - 2 nos Ginger Garlic paste - 2 tbsp Red Chilly powder - 1 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - ½ tsp Curd - 2 tbsp (optional) Coriander leaves - 2 sprig Curry leaves - 2 sprig Salt - As needed Oil - As needed Water - As needed

To Temper: (optional)

Oil  - 2 tbsp Garlic - 1 pod Pepper - 1 tsp

The Way:

1. Dry roast the ingredients under 'To roast & grind' in a pan. Add little water to it & grind  it to a fine paste

2. Marinate the cleaned & cut chicken pieces with the ingredients under 'For Marination' &  keep aside for 30 minutes

3. In a kadai, heat oil. Add the sliced onions & salt & saute well. The taste of this dish depends on how well you saute the onions. This is the key step & it may take you around 10-12 minutes. Keep sauteing occasionally till it reduces to half & becomes mushy. You can cover & cook as well in between

4. Once the the onions are nicely sauteed, add the sliced tomatoes & slit green chillies & saute well till the tomatoes becomes mushy

5. Now add the ginger-garlic paste & saute till the raw smell goes off. This may take around 2-3 minutes

6. Now add turmeric powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder & saute well for about a minute or two

7. Dunk in the marinated chicken pieces & give a nice stir. Close the kadai & cook in a medium/low flame till the chicken pieces become soft & are half-cooked. This takes about another 10 minutes

8. Now uncover the kadai & you can see that the chicken has let out some water. At this stage add the ground paste & sufficient water (if required) to bring it to the consistency for the gravy that you require. Close the kadai & cook again till the chicken is done

9. Now add in curd & give a stir. This step is totally optional. We like to add curd as it brings a tangy zing to the gravy which enhances the flavour of the dish

10. Add in the chopped coriander leaves & curry leaves & give a stir. Leave it in medium flame for another 30-60 seconds for the flavour of the leaves to sink in

11. Now for the tempering, heat oil in a kadai & fry the garlic pods & pepper separately

12. The garlic pods should slightly change colour & the pepper should just start to crackle. This tempering is also totally optional. We add it as Deeps like the crunch that the tempering adds to the gravy

You can serve hot with Nei Choru / Coconut Milk Rice / Roti / Idiyappam / Appam / Porotta / Chiratta Puttu / Puttu or any mild flavoured rice !

Cheers,

Chitz

Coorgi Chicken Curry with homemade Coorgi Masala Powder | Coorg Style Chicken Curry

Chicken prepared in Coorgi style with freshly ground Masala & sauteed onions

Each of us have our own unique ways of celebrating our special days. Some do it with sweet, some with wine & yet others would be out in the wild :D We do it with chicken, but now you guys would not be surprised as I have already mentioned many a times of our undying & dedicated love for this lovely ingredient. And for those of who are asking what's special today, it's Deeps' birthday. Though he did not want any celebration a.k.a indication that he is older by a year, I wanted to do prepare something simple yet not the regular kind of food for our lunch today. He is not a great fan of sweets nor cakes. so I resorted to our all time favorite, chicken. I did not want to try something very new for the fear of something going wrong somewhere, hence decided on this simple & flavorful Coorgi style chicken curry. 

I had already prepared this awesome gravy (adapted from Sinful Curry) 2-3 times before & every time it received a good review, by Deeps as well as some guests to whom we served this :) So I paired it up with the subtle yet lovely Peas pulav & wrapped it up with a rich creamy custard fruit salad with ice cream. Both mind & tummy full & satisfied :D And coming to the recipe it was originally for pork, but since the strong flavors & the simplicity of the recipe pulled me towards it, I had to replace it with chicken. And also this authentic recipe requires Kanchampuli, the Coorg special vinegar prepared from Gambooge, but since I did not have neither the extract nor the whole Gambooge I used our normal tamarind & extracted the pulp & used it. So nothing else would stop you now from trying out this. Enjoy :)

Recipe Source: Sinful Curry

I Took: 40 minutes + 2 hour(marination)

Serves: 2-3 persons

I Used:

For Coorgi Masala powder:

Coriander seeds  - 3 tbsp Pepper  - 1 tsp Cumin seeds  - ½ tsp Mustard - ¼ tsp Cinnamon  - An inch piece Cloves  - 4 no Green cardamom  - 2 no

To Marinate:

Chicken  - ½ kg Coorgi Masala powder  - 2 tbsp Red chili powder  - 1 ½ tsp Turmeric powder  - ¼ tsp Tamarind Extract - 1 tbsp (Refer notes) Salt - As Needed

To Saute:

Onions	-	1 medium sized - sliced
Shallots	-	5 nos - sliced
Ginger-Garlic Paste	-	1 tbsp
Coorgi Masala powder	-	2 tsp
Mustard seeds	-	¼ tsp
Curry leaves	-	A sprig
Coriander leaves	-	To Garnish
Oil	-	2 tbsp

The Way:

1. In a pan dry roast (without oil) the spices under 'For Coorgi Masala powder' until they turn brown & the aroma of the spices come out. Allow it to cool & then grind it to a fine powder in a mixie. Keep aside
2. Clean & cut the chicken into small or desirable sized pieces. Marinate it with the ingredients under 'To Marinate' & refrigerate them for 1-2 hours
3. Cook the marinated chicken with ¼ cup of water until done. Alternately you can pressure cook the chicken for a whistle or two as well
4. In a pan, heat oil. Splutter mustards & curry leaves. Add shallots & onions and saute them nicely till they turn deep brown. Take care not to burn
5. Add ginger-garlic paste & fry till the raw smell goes off. Now add coorgi masala powder & give a stir
6. Now add the cooked chicken pieces & cook on low flame until they are mixed well & the gravy thickens to your desired consistency. You can also let it dry completely if preferred
7. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves

Serve with Jeera Rice/Peas Pulav/Coconut Milk Rice or Roti/Appam/Idiyappam !

Notes:

• The original recipe calls for Kanchampuli (the Coorg vinegar extracted from kachampuli or gambooge), but since I did not have it I used normal Tamarind
• The original recipe is for Pork, since I do not eat it I used chicken instead

Cheers,

Chitz

Chicken Masaledar | Spicy Chicken Masala Recipe

Chicken cooked over slow fire in onion paste & Indian masala

 Looking for a simple & easy chicken recipe? Here is the one for you. No coconut, no tomato, no elaborate methods, just a curd marinated chicken slow cooked in pureed onion & the common India masalas. I made this to pair up with my Coconut Milk Rice. It tasted awesome, spicy enough for the rich rice & blended perfectly with it. This recipe is from my mom's old cookbook, the one which I talk about quite often ! Let's say that was her blog during her younger days. I enjoy cooking dishes from it coz they always turn out perfectly well for me & also it makes me nostalgic. Nostalgia part is because I used to pen down the recipes in the diary for her. See, I had a very good handwriting when I was young, so she let me write it down for her. There are almost 200 odd recipes in it & this time when I went on for vacation I xerox-ed the entire diary & took it with me ! So look out for more recipes from that diary here at my space. Let's now see how to make this tasty & spicy masala chicken..

Recipe Source: Ma's Ole Cookbook

I Took: 30 minutes + 1 hour for marination

Serves: 2-3 persons

I Used:

Chicken	-	250 gm
Onion	-	1 no - big sized - sliced
Green Chilly	-	2 no
Ginger-Garlic Paste	-	1 tbsp
Curd	-	¼ cup
Lemon Juice	-	1 tbsp
Red Chilly Powder	-	1 ½ tsp
Coriander Powder	-	2 tsp
Turmeric Powder	-	1 tsp
Garam Masala	-	1 tsp
Pepper Powder	-	½ tsp
Oil	-	2 tbsp
Salt	-	As Needed

The Way:

1. Clean & cut the chicken into pieces. Marinate the pieces with curd, lemon juice, ½ tsp turmeric powder & salt for 1 hour
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the sliced onions & fry till it becomes golden brown. Remove from fire. Cool & grind it to a fine paste
3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan or wok. Add the ginger-garlic paste & crushed green chillies & fry for a while. Take care not to burn
4. Add the ground onion paste & fry for 1 minute. Now add the red chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala & pepper powder & fry well
5. When masala leaves the side of the pan, add the marinated chicken pieces & cook on slow fire till the chicken is tender 

Serve hot with chapathi/tandoori roti/jeera rice/coconut milk rice

Cheers,

Chitz

Mughlai Chicken | Murg Mughlai

Chicken cooked with onions & spices and served with cream & almond sauce

I love cooking chicken.. That's an ingredient which will almost always guarantee taste, unless you mess with it that badly :D  So here I am, to tell a tale of my recent success story - "Mughlai Chicken".. My mom used to make this a long ago, when the entire family was in the prime of our healthy & extra indulgence of cream & nuts were a routine.. Ahh, Bliss !! Mughlai Chicken, Butter Chicken, Chicken 65.. the list was never ending. It had been a long while since I had this, so I succumbed to the craving & went ahead & prepared it.. Suits best with Rotis & Naan, but not a crime if u pair it up with steamed rice coz it again tastes great ;)

What I loved the most was that, my kitchen was smelling awesome after I cooked this.. The smell of ghee mixed with our Indian spices & cream.. Yupz.. I was loving it ;) B\ut the only minus is that I can't make it a routine in my menu, coz of the extra calories that I wud have to burn out.. Only if tasty dishes were healthy & nutritious to the core !! So enoough of my ramblings about this dish, let's check out how this is made :)

Recipe Source: Adapted from here & here

Serves: 2-3 persons

I Took: 

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

I Used:

Chicken	-	400 gm
Onion	-	1 medium - grated
Ginger-Garlic paste	-	2 tsp
Cinnamon	-	An inch piece
Cardamom	-	2 nos
Red Chilly powder	-	1 tsp
Coriander powder	-	1 ½ tsp
Cumin seed powder	-	½ tsp
Garam Masala	-	2 tsp
Cream	-	3-4 tbsp
Egg	-	1 no
Almonds	-	15 no
Sugar	-	1 tsp
Ghee	-	2 tbsp
Salt	-	As Needed

The Way:

1. Blanch the almonds - Soak the almonds in hot water for 5 minutes & then remove their skin
2. Grind the almonds to a fine paste & keep aside
3. Heat ghee in a pan over medium heat. Add the grated onions & fry them till they become translucent
4. Then add in ginger-garlic paste, cinnamon & cardamom. Saute well till the onions turn golden brown & the raw smell goes off
5. Now add the chicken (Refer notes below) and mix well so that the chicken pieces are smeared with the onion paste. Add salt and ½ cup water and cook till the chicken is half done. This may take around 12-15 minutes
6. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together cream, eggs, sugar & powdered almonds thoroughly. Use a whisk to thicken, if the cream is liquidy
7. Lower the heat once the chicken is half cooked. Add the cream mixture to it
8. Cook on low flame until the chicken is cooked & tender for another 5-7 minutes
9. Garnish with flaked almonds if u wish :)

Serve with hot phulkas or Naan :-)

Notes:

Instead of adding chicken pieces directly, you can grill it & add to the sauteed onions which would give you an extra zing. Marinate it for half an hour with red chilly powder, salt, turmeric, lemon juice & a little curd before grilling :)

Linking this to the event 'Flavours of Cusines - Mughlai' hosted by Shruthi & started by Julie

Cheers,

Chitz