Malabari Chicken Curry

Malabari Cuisine comes from Kerela. Kerala has been visited by ocean-goers, including traders from Greece, Rome, the eastern Mediterranean, Arab countries, and Europe. Thus, Malabari cuisine is a blend of indigenous dishes and foreign dishes adapted to Kerala tastes with basic ingredient being the Spices and Coconut Milk.


Ingredients:

800 gms Boneless Chicken
3 Medium Red Onions sliced
1.5 inch Ginger
8-10 Garlic Cloves
4-5 Green chillies
3 Medium Tomatoes,chopped
1 tsp Mustard seeds
2 Whole dry Red Chillies
15 Curry leaves
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 and 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
100 ml Small tetra pack Cocunut Milk (if fresh not available)
Salt to taste
1 tsp freshly crushed pepper corns
2 tbl spoons lemon juice
Freshly chopped Coriander

For the Malabari Masala:

2 tsp Cumin seeds
2 tbl spoon Coriander seeds
4-5 Whole dry red chillies,broken
1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
2 1inch Cinnamon Sticks
4-5 Green cardamoms
6-8 Cloves
2 Bay leaves
1 tbl spoons Poppy seeds (khuskhus/posto)
10-12 Black peppercorns
2 tbl Spoons Scraped Coconut

Method:

Poke the chicken with a fork and rub with freshly crushed pepper, salt and lemon juice and keep aside to marinate. Heat 2 tbl spoon oil in a pan and add all the Malabari Masala Spices except scraped coconut and stir fry for a half a minute, now add the scraped coconut and stir fry till it turns golden brown. Drain on an absorbent paper. Grind to a fine paste and keep aside. Grind ginger, garlic and green chillies to a coarse paste and keep aside.Heat Oil in a wok and crackle the mustard seeds, whole red chillies and curry leaves, tip in the onions and ginger garlic and green chilli paste. Fry the till onions turn golden brown. Now add the chicken, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and tomatoes. Sauté till it leaves oil on the sides. Now add about 2 full cups of water and bring to boil. Now add the Malabari Masala and coconut milk and allow to boil for a minute or two. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander.

Serve hot with Steamed Rice.

Tip : After stir frying the whole spices for Malabari Masala, drain in a sieve first else you'll loose the poppy seeds.