Chettinad Chicken

Name: Chettinad Chicken
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 650gms skinned boneless chicken thighs cut into small pieces; Salt to taste; 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper; 1 heaped tsp grated ginger; 1 tsp turmeric powder; 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder; 3 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 tsp mustard seeds; ½ tsp urad dal; 1 tsp fennel seeds; 1” cinnamon stick broken in two; 2 dried kashmiri red chillies; 15 curry leaves; 100gms white onion thinly sliced; 100gms tomato roughly chopped; Juice of half a lime; Fresh coriander to garnish

Spicy chicken curry with fennel, chilli and black peppercorn

Serves: 4

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The recipe

Ingredients

650gms skinned boneless chicken thighs cut into small pieces
Salt to taste
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 heaped tsp grated ginger
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp urad dal
1 tsp fennel seeds
1” cinnamon stick broken in two
2 dried kashmiri red chillies
15 curry leaves
100gms white onion thinly sliced
100gms tomato roughly chopped
Juice of half a lime
Fresh coriander to garnish

Method

Add the chicken to a bowl along with the salt, pepper, ginger, turmeric and chilli powder. Marinate for 20 minutes or overnight.
In a heavy bottom sauce pan heat the oil over a medium flame. Add the mustard seeds letting them crackle for a few seconds. Follow with the urad dal, fennel seeds, cinnamon and red chillies. Stir and fry for a few seconds.
Now add half the curry leaves along with the sliced onion. Cook the onion for 8-10 minutes until it starts to change colour and go light brown. At this stage add the marinated chicken and fry for about 5 minutes, stirring and sealing the pieces well.
Add 50mls water to help cook it on a low heat with the lid on till done, for a further 7-8 minutes. Now add the tomato and the remaining curry leaves and toss gently to warm through for 2 minutes.
Turn the heat off and add the lime juice and coriander. Stir and serve with bread or rice.

The story

About this recipe.

Many of my travels across Chennai and Karaikuddi over the years have been about understanding local spices, curries and also the variety within communities. And to clarify, Chettinad food is not searingly hot or spicy. The region’s dishes rely on flavour, typically with the addition of black pepper and coriander seeds.

This Chettinad chicken is one of my favourites and I have been cooking it for over 15 years. I have been regularly asked to share the recipe so here it is. Coarsely crushing the spices lends loads of texture to the light gravy alongside the fresh ingredients. Ginger is a great tenderiser for chicken and lamb.