Chicken Chettinad
Chicken Chettinad is a spicy South Indian chicken curry made with chicken cooked in freshly ground Chettinad masala. You can serve this flavorful chicken curry with steamed rice or rice-based accompaniments such as appams, dosas, idiyappams, adais, and idlis. Here's how to make it easily at home with step-by-step photos.
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 290kcal
Equipment
- Heavy bottom pan
Ingredients
For marinating the chicken
- 500 grams bone-in chicken
- 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
For Chettinad masala
- 1.5 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1- inch cinnamon sticks
- 4 cloves
- 3 green cardamoms
- ½ star anise
- 2 black stone flower (also called kalpasi)
- 4 dried red chilies
- ½ cups freshly grated coconut
For the curry
- 3 teaspoon coconut oil (any cooking oil can be used)
- 2 onions
- 1 sprig of curry leaves
- 2 tomatoes
- coriander leaves
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken: In a mixing bowl, combine chicken with ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, salt, and lemon juice. Set it aside for 30 minutes.
Making Chettinad Masala
- Heat a pan over low-medium heat. Add all the ingredients mentioned under Chettinad masala (except coconut).
- Roast it, stirring continuously until the whole spices are aromatic. The color of the spices will start to change. Immediately remove it to a plate.
- Next, roast the coconut until golden. Remove and set this aside on the same plate.
- Let all the roasted ingredients cool down to room temperature. Transfer them to a mixer/grinder jar.
- Add water and grind it to a fine paste. Chettinad masala is ready.
Cooking Chettinad Chicken Curry
- Heat 3 teaspoons of oil in the same pan over medium heat. Add the onions and curry leaves. Sauté until the onions start to turn golden.
- Add tomatoes and salt. Cook until tomatoes are soft and pulpy.
- Add the marinated chicken. Combine and cook until the chicken turns from pink to white. Cover and cook on low heat until the chicken is cooked.
- Add the freshly ground Chettinad masala and combine. Add water to adjust the consistency of the gravy. Cover and cook until the masala comes to a boil.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning. Chicken Chettinad is ready to serve. Garnish with some coriander leaves. Serve hot with Chapati, Roti, or Steamed rice.
Notes
- Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes to an hour in the refrigerator. It makes the chicken soft and juicy.
- Please follow the exact measurements of ingredients to make Chettinad masala. Any ingredient if exceeded can spoil the entire gravy. This measurement will give perfect spiciness to the curry.
- Roast all the spices on low to medium heat. Do not roast it on high or else the masala will burn and taste bitter.
- You can roast the ingredients to make Chettinad masala in advance. Let it cool down completely. Transfer it to a zip-lock bag. Freeze it. Stays good for a month. Whenever needed, just add water and grind to a fine paste. Make the chicken curry.
- Adjust the spice level as per your taste. The spicy kick to the curry comes from black pepper. You can reduce the number of black peppercorns to reduce the spiciness. Also, de-seed the red chilies before adding them to the masala.
- Dried red chilies differ in spiciness. So add as per your taste. Also, make sure to select the red chilies that are spicy but will not give red color to the dish.
Nutrition
Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 45mg | Sodium: 256mg | Potassium: 493mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 36IU | Vitamin C: 55mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 3mg