Chettinad chicken gravy | How to make Chettinad style chicken kuzhambu
Chettinad chicken gravy is the world-famous South Indian chicken curry in which chicken cooked tenderly in the freshly-ground flavorful spices.
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 kg Chicken (with bones)
- 3 tbsp Sesame oil
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 cup chopped shallots (or red onion)
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 cup chopped tomato
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tbsp chilli powder
- 2 tsp rock salt (as needed)
- Coriander leaves
- Curry leaves
For chettinad masala(to roast & grind):
- 1 tsp Fennel seeds
- ½ tsp cumin
- 1 cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 1 star anise
- 3 cloves
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 inch mace
- 1 black stone flower
- 1/2 tbsp Whole peppercorns
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 6 red chillies (as per taste)
- ½ cup grated coconut
- 6 whole cashews
Instructions
Preparation:
- Peel and chop onions and make ginger garlic paste.
- Wash and chop tomatoes.
- Grate coconut.
Recipe:
- How to make Chettinad masala paste:
- Heat a frying pan and dry roast the whole masala spices one by one given under Chettinad masala ingredients section.
- Add cashew nuts and give a quick stir.
- When the spices give nice aroma, add grated coconut and sauté well with these spices for a few minutes.
- Switch off, let the mixture cool down and grind it to a smooth paste by adding some water.
How to make the gravy:
- In a kadai, heat oil, add fennel seeds and shallot onions(or red onion),
- Fry onions in oil nicely to golden brown color, add few curry leaves.
- Next, add ginger garlic paste(1 tbsp) and mix well. Saute well to remove raw flavor.
- Add chopped tomato(1 cup) and cook till they become soft and mushy.
- Put turmeric powder(1/2 tsp) and chilli powder(1/2 tbsp).
- Add clean chicken pieces(1 kg) into the masala, mix well so that the chicken absorbs all the spices.
- Pour ½ cup of water to cook the masala.
- Add washed chicken pieces into the masala, mix well so that the chicken absorbs all the spices.
- Close the lid for 5 minutes in low heat for the chicken toget cooked in its own water.
- Pour a cup of water, mix, cover with a lid and cook the bones for 8 more minutes on high.
- Pour ½ cup of water if needed to adjust the consistency of the gravy.
- Add required rock salt(2 tsp) and mix well. Cook for 5 more minutes.
- Finally, garnish with coriander leaves.
Notes
Tips/notes:
Use chicken with bones for this gravy to get the traditional taste.
If you do not have whole spices, replace with 1 tsp of garam masala powder(or readymade Chettinad masala) but I recommend using whole spices to get the authentic taste and aroma.
Nutrition
Calories: 250kcal
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!