Chicken Chettinad is the most delicious and flavorful curry served best with roti and rice. A spicy and aromatic preparation of chicken curry from the Chettinad cuisine of South India.
Chicken Chettinad mainly gets its name from a region in Tamil Nadu called ‘Chettinad’. Not many are aware of the fact that Chettinad is actually a name of a place invented by a community called ‘Nattukotai Chettiyars’. This is the advantage of food blogging, that we bloggers actually go deep into the recipe and its history which is now easily available at our fingertips.
This dish falls into the category of those curries whose recipe remains the same or a slight change here and there but the overall taste and even the color remains the same. Here you will not see a typical curry with a reddish hue as the red chilies are reduced and more black pepper and other spices are used making it look brown in color. The best accompaniment for this curry should be rice-based more like idlis, dosas, appams, neer dosa, pathri, or even typical Kerala style parotta.
Chicken Chettinad ~ Chettinad Style Chicken Curry
Chicken Chettinad is the most delicious and flavorful curry served best with roti and rice. A spicy and aromatic preparation of chicken curry from the Chettinad cuisine of South India.
Ingredients
For the marinade:
- 500 grams chicken cut into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the chettinad masala:
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds badi saunf
- 2 teaspoon black peppercorns sabut kalimirch
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ inch piece cinnamon
- 3 pieces cardamom
- 5 pieces cloves
- 1 star anise
- 5 dry red chilies
- 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 8 curry leaves
- 1 tablespoon coconut dry/fresh
- 1 small onion chopped
For the curry:
- 2 medium onion sliced
- 1 large ripe tomato chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
- 6 curry leaves
- 1 dry red chili
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoon cooking oil
For Tadka:
- 10 curry leaves
- 3 tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Marinate chicken pieces with lemon juice, salt, black pepper powder, and turmeric powder for 30 minutes. You can also start cooking right away even without marinating.
For the chettinad Masala
- Prepare Chettinad masala paste by dry roasting the first nine spices from the Chettinad masala list for 2 to 3 minutes on medium flame. Place the roasted spices in a grinding jar along with ginger, garlic, curry leaves, coconut, and onion. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of water and grind to a smooth paste.
For the curry
- Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan and fry onion till soft and translucent. Then add chopped ginger, dry red chili, and curry leaves and fry till onion turns light golden.
- Now add chopped tomato and fry for a few minutes till it combines well with onion and oil starts to separate.
- Add marinated chicken pieces and cook for 2 minutes on high heat followed by the Chettinad masala paste, lemon juice, and salt if needed. Stir well, cover, and cook till the chicken is fully done. Add water only if needed in small quantities, but it is better not to add any water at all.
- Finally, add chopped coriander leaves and cook for 1 more minute.
- Turn off the heat and remove the curry in a serving dish.
- Heat some coconut oil and add curry leaves. Cook for a few seconds and pour this tadka over the chicken curry.
- Serve hot with rice or Kerala parotta or naan.
Video
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