I was not a Mallu food fan, but staying away from home made me realise my love for this awesome cuisine along with the memories. As a child I would only eat chicken and no other form of non veg, only chicken. I had this craving to have the authentic Kerala coconut chicken curry with Idiyappam and could not wait till I got home, so decided to give it a try on my own.
My inspirations to cooking are from my mom and Aunts Kitchen who don’t have any fixed measuring chart but instincts to cook. I follow the same pattern, so putting up a recipe with the exact measurement is a task for me , however getting to it and here it goes
Chicken – 1 kg (with bones)
cinnamon stick – 1 or 2 small sticks
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 2 tsp
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves
Onions sliced – two medium size
Tomatoes chopped – 1 big size
Ginger – one inch
garlic – 4-5 medium sized cloves
Salt to taste
pepper corns – 1 tsp (crushed)
Oil as little as possible
Coriander leaves
To roast and grind
grated coconut – 2 tablespoon
coriander seeds – 2 spoons
Dried red chillies – as per your spice buds
Method
Dry roast coconut, coriander seeds and red chilies till the raw flavour disappears and a very nice aroma starts coming. If needed add one tsp of oil. Let it cool. Grind this in a mixie with some water. Marinate the chicken with this paste, crushed pepper, salt and turmeric powder and keep it aside for half an hour.
In a pan add little oil, when heated up put in the cinnamon sticks & add mustard seeds. Let it crackle then add curry leaves, onions, then crushed ginger and garlic (I prefer crushed than the ready made pastes). Saute till they are cooked now add in the chopped tomatoes, saute and then add the marinated chicken. If you need add a little bit of turmeric & coriander powder. Add salt as desired. Put in some water and cook with lid on , on a low heat. For people who can’t wait cook it in a pressure cooker with 3 – 4 whistles, but make sure water content is kept low as chicken oozes out its own juices. Once done add lot of chopped coriander leaves and serve. I like it with Idiyappam.