Chicken Chettinad is a highly flavourful recipe from the Chettiars. Making your own spice mix from scratch will bring out the full fragrance of the spices and make your chicken curry sing.But before I begin writing about the recipe, I wanted to write about my sentiments for food, booze and tattoos
[Chicken Chettinad] The topic today shares its names with a Netflix show where the host Brett Rogers travels across South Africa his home country in search of food which is coming of age, some of the coolest breweries and banishing norms tattoo parlours.
Back in 1981 I was X years old (you thought I would reveal my age). I was a very head strong child trying to come of age and breaking all societal norms. Skinny, dark skinned, short crop hair, agility and a hunger for knowledge gave me a special status in my group. My mother tried her level best to tame me under her orthodox wings while my father predominantly fuelled the rebellion in me. My nature was given the erroneous judgement of mutant within my family.
In my late teens my food habits began to evolve. The choice of food has a strong role in carving the personality of an individual. Some food researchers quote ‘You are what you eat’ just like how we identify a country on the map and they first thing to flash is its cuisines.Little by little my choice of food gave me a status in the eyes of others as well as mine.
[Chicken Chettinad] You are also what you drink, last year a senior colleague went through a painful process of stomach cancer. A great deal of drinking was also attributed to his cancer. After three months he made his way to office for a casual outing, looking extremely frail and battered by his recent health struggles he slowly tread into the office space. Thursdays are generally reserved for team spirits in the literal sense and there in the corner I saw him sip a glass of juice while the others guzzle down their pints. That image stayed with me for a long time. I come from a household where I was made to think that social drinking is bad. I took a long time to debate this thought and come to an understanding that drinking could mean a time to relax and harmless enjoyment with friends. My most favourite drink till date is water with ice and when it comes to Alcohol I believe for me its classic case of “a little may be better than none but a lot is worse than a little”.
[Chicken Chettinad] ….And to some you are also what you tattoo, I come from a family fortunately where tattoos were not a taboo atleast 50 years ago. My great grand mom was tattooed from shoulder to toe while my own grand mom had her arms tattooed embraced them to give them strength to face the challenges of life which is to me is quite noble. But there also other instances where they are symbols of subjugation and distinction.The modern exhibit of a tattoo sentiment could be infinite and I think I respect all those sentiments. To some it is a symbol of uniqueness, instrument of gesticulation and while for still others a novice experience. For me it’s expression of love, my very first tattoo was done to experience the pain a loved one would go through when being tattooed. The two very common questions I get asked is, Does it pain ? Do you have more tattoos ? That makes the conversation more human.
Chicken Chettinad
I shall leave these sentiments for the readers to ponder. Makes you think, leave a one liner about the emotions it evokes. Coming to today’s recipe it is a Milagu Masala Kozhi or Chicken Chettinad. The Chettiars (trading community from the southern coastal state of Tamil Nadu), have had a strong influence of various regions and cultures due to their trade travel and British colonisation. Chettinad cuisine is flavourful, spicy and highly aromatic. This particular recipe has the spice mix freshly made at home along with some fresh condiments. The only ingredient which i have swapped is the fresh coconut in its place I have used dried coconut for more rich gravy and owning to my maharashtrian roots. This is one luscious recipe from my blog.
- Chicken – 1 kg
- Shallots – 4-5 thinly sliced
- Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 tbsp
- Handful of Curry Leaves
- Oil for frying
- Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Lemon Juice
- Finely chopped fresh Coriander Leaves
- Homemade Chettinad Masala:
- Coriander Seeds – 3 tbsp
- Dry Red Chilli – 4 to 5 or to taste
- Fennel Seeds – 1 tsp
- Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
- Cinnamon Stick – 5 cm stick
- Kalpasi / Black Stone Flower – 2 pieces
- Whole Peppercorns – 2 tsp
- Cardamom Pods – 3
- Star Anise – 1
- Cloves – 4
- Dried Coconut – 2 tbsp
- Marinate the chcken in turmeric, salt and lemon juice.
- Dry roast all the spices mentioned under masala above, then grind them to a smooth paste.
- In a deep bottommed vessel or Kadhai, add oil as per your desire ( I used 2 tbsp of refined oil) then add the shallots and fry them until translucent. Then add the ginger garlic paste and curry leaves.
- Now add the chicken and fry it until chicken is white in colour. Now is the right time to add the blended spice paste.
- Now fry the chicken with the spice mix for 5 minutes. Now since this is a dry recipe we don’t add water to the chicken. We just cover and cook chicken over low heat for around 15 minutes.
- If you find the chicken getting charred then there is a nice trick where we place a little water on the plate or lid which is used to cover the chicken for cooking. This lends moisture to the chicken without diluting the taste of the spices.
- Add in coriander leaves and serve it with plain rice and sambar.
You are back with a bang. Great post and needless to say great pics
One more back with a bang…I will take retirement I feel 🙂 Thank you for the year long appreciation. Much appreciated. I have tried to do some justice.