There are innumerable varieties of chicken curry cooked in India. These vary in their level of spice, color, consistency and ingredients, but they have one thing in common, they are delicious! North Indian curries have a tomato base and they derive their richness from cream or yogurt. South Indian curries on the other hand derive their richness from coconuts and the use of curry leaves is typical of South Indian cuisines. Not all curries need these though. This curry is based on a recipe that I had read in a book, I have modified it to suit my taste.
Ingredients
- Chicken - 2 lbs
- Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
- Yoghurt - 1/2 cup
- Salt to taste
- Oil - 3 tbsp
- Bay leaves - 2
- Curry leaves - 1 sprig
- Onion - 1 large, finely chopped
- Green chillies - 5, finely chopped
- Cilantro - 1 small bunch, finely chopped, for garnish
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- Masala :-
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- Onions - 2, large, chopped roughly
- Garlic - 6 cloves
- Ginger - 1 inch piece
- Dried red chillies - 5
- Kashmiri red chilly powder - 1 tsp
- Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
- Cumin seeds - 1/2 tbsp
- Freshly grated coconut - 1/4 cup
- Cloves - 6
- Peppercorns - 1/2 tsp
- Cinnamon stick - 1 inch piece
- Green cardamom - 3, pods removed, skin discarded
- Black mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
- Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Instructions
Remove the skin and fat from the chicken and cut into pieces.
In a small bowl, mix yoghurt, turmeric powder and salt. Pour this over the cleaned chicken pieces and mix well. Set aside to marinate for a couple of hours.
Put the masala ingredients in a blender and blend to a smooth paste. A little bit of water can be added while blending to make the paste smooth.
Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add the bay leaves and fry for a few seconds.
Put in the finely chopped onions, green chillies and curry leaves and fry till onions turn golden.
Add the blended masala and fry on medium heat till the oil separates.
Put in the marinated chicken pieces and mix thoroughly. Let the chicken fry on medium heat for 5 minutes and then put in 1 cup of water. Mix well and cook till done. If you want a dry dish without gravy, lower the heat and let the chicken cook till done, stirring frequently to see to it that the sauce does not stick to the bottom of the dish. Garnish with finely chopped cilantro.
Serve hot with white rice or rotis.
Note:
When the curry is almost done, check for salt. More can be added if required.
4 Comments
Akshata
September 5, 2013 at 10:34 pmMade this today. It turned out great! Had it with hot idiappam. Fabulous combination. Thanks for the recipe. Tomorrow, shrimp curry for the win!
Aparna
September 7, 2013 at 11:26 amThank you Akshata! I am glad you liked it. This curry tastes good with any rice based dishes such as idlis or dosas!
Yash
February 10, 2014 at 9:27 pmI made this recipe yesterday and it came out just great! Slightly spicy for our non-konkani palate, but really nice and fragrant! Onto trying more of your authentic recipes. Thank you.
Aparna
February 11, 2014 at 1:42 pmGlad you liked it, Yash! Please let us know how the others turn out.