Pepper Chicken
Hola,
Hope you all are having a great Sunday.
As usual, I am late, for the Sunday Chicken curry recipe. Blame it on my eccentric mindset & mood-wings, not to mention my horrible time management skill, which is dangerously oscillating between the normal and the not-so-normal division of my brain sections. If not recipe, then what about a little story? Comm'n we all are always ready to lend a ear when there is a story & when there is food: Food story!!
This happens to be about D, a friend, who cooked and feed me to some yumilicious well balanced Pepper chicken, cooked by him, giving birth to my interest in this dish, hailing from the southern part of the country ( that's the max geographical knowledge I can share). It is during that session of eating his chicken with aunty's home made fried rice or pulao ( well both of these delicacies was handed over to me in tiffin boxes or dabbas), did I realise never ordering it at any resturant. Even though it might sound unreal, that such an iconic and known dish as this, has never hit my table at any resturant, it is actually true! And so I decided, I need to make and have it. ASAP.
And so I did. Armed with couple of cookbooks and also some recipes from my personal collection, more to serve as a direction, rather than a particular instructions, I stepped into the kitchen. I have had this tremendous need for independance throughout my life , may be that can be the reason, for my failure at following any particular recipe to the T. However, I would like to believe my one here is an easy version, and may be, it wouldn't cause much of an hustle in your life and kitchen, if you feel the need to re-create this and relish it with a generous serving of steamed rice and some chopped or sliced onion. Scroll down and read up the process.
1. Heat bout 4 tbsp of vegetable oil in a pan of your choice ( Fell free to use coconut oil if you wish to, for that southern flavour). I would advice you to choose a cast iron one, in place of the regular non-stick ones, we generally swear by!
2. Once the oil starts to warm up ( do not put in whole spices when the oil is fuming angry), add 4 nos Green cardamom ( lightly crushed) + 5 cloves + 1 pc kalpasi ( It might be a bit of task to collect this, if not found, please do not get depressed. Make life easy & just ommit it) + 1 whole star anise + 1" cinnamon quill + 2 nos dry red chillies, broken + 7-8 black peppercons. Saute lightly for just a few seconds. You will notice the cloves getting plumper and the cardamom seeds erupting in that pool of oil.
3. Chop up onions about 400 gms, roughly about 3-4 onins, medium to large in demanour. Add that to this spiced oil. Reduce the flame a bit, add a pinch of salt, & allow the onions to caramelise. Once they turn translucent, add in curry leaves, 7-8 leaves maybe and mix lightly. Let it cook for while, maybe 2-3 mins, while the aromatic curry leaves enliven your spirit.
4. Time to add in the necessary ginger- garlic paste, 3.5tbsp, with garlic being a major shareholder in this mix. Cook this with the onions, till you can't smell the rawness anymore.
5. Chop up about 400 gm, tomatoes and add that to the pan. Add in a little pinch of salt and give a good mix. Reduce the flame and cover & cook. Allow the tomatoes to disintegrate on their own. Trust me they don't like much disturbance.
6. Once they have turned into a liquid mass, add in the following spices: Red chilli powder , according to your tastebuds ( 2 heaped tsp, worked for me) + 2 tbsp roasted coriander powder + 3 tbsp freshly crushed black pepper + 1 tsp turmeric powder + salt. Give it a good mix on medium to high flame and cook, till you spot oil appearing on the sides and on top of the mix.
7. Time to bung in, cleaned and curry cut chicken, about 800 gms, approx. Give the chicken pieces a good mix with the spice, tomatoes and onions. Slowly the chicken will happily cover themselves in the warm blanket of all these spices. Add in 2 no, fresh red or green chillies, chopped. Keep cooking the chicken, till the bird is about half cooked. Time to pour in some warm water or chicken stock, according to your desired consistency of gravy along with 6-7 of curry leaves. Mix. Cover and allow it to cook on medium- low flame.
8. Once the chicken is ready, add in a 1tbsp of good quality ghee ( I insist on this) & some freshly chopped coriander leaves. Give one last mix, and it's ready to be served. One can opt for chapati or parantha as well, but to me & family steamed rice is the best.
Are you feeling a bit under the weather? Then this recipe can be your prescription. Not only does the melange of all these spices warms you up from inside, but the ho-hum of the black pepper will re-vitalise your soul.
There is no separate tips this time, because I have mentioned all that I had to, in the pointers. My Sunday siesta, is waiting, so I need to stop here. Take care. And do leave a note in case you have any stories or recipes to share. Promise to be back soon.
Chow.
Hope you all are having a great Sunday.
As usual, I am late, for the Sunday Chicken curry recipe. Blame it on my eccentric mindset & mood-wings, not to mention my horrible time management skill, which is dangerously oscillating between the normal and the not-so-normal division of my brain sections. If not recipe, then what about a little story? Comm'n we all are always ready to lend a ear when there is a story & when there is food: Food story!!
This happens to be about D, a friend, who cooked and feed me to some yumilicious well balanced Pepper chicken, cooked by him, giving birth to my interest in this dish, hailing from the southern part of the country ( that's the max geographical knowledge I can share). It is during that session of eating his chicken with aunty's home made fried rice or pulao ( well both of these delicacies was handed over to me in tiffin boxes or dabbas), did I realise never ordering it at any resturant. Even though it might sound unreal, that such an iconic and known dish as this, has never hit my table at any resturant, it is actually true! And so I decided, I need to make and have it. ASAP.
And so I did. Armed with couple of cookbooks and also some recipes from my personal collection, more to serve as a direction, rather than a particular instructions, I stepped into the kitchen. I have had this tremendous need for independance throughout my life , may be that can be the reason, for my failure at following any particular recipe to the T. However, I would like to believe my one here is an easy version, and may be, it wouldn't cause much of an hustle in your life and kitchen, if you feel the need to re-create this and relish it with a generous serving of steamed rice and some chopped or sliced onion. Scroll down and read up the process.
1. Heat bout 4 tbsp of vegetable oil in a pan of your choice ( Fell free to use coconut oil if you wish to, for that southern flavour). I would advice you to choose a cast iron one, in place of the regular non-stick ones, we generally swear by!
2. Once the oil starts to warm up ( do not put in whole spices when the oil is fuming angry), add 4 nos Green cardamom ( lightly crushed) + 5 cloves + 1 pc kalpasi ( It might be a bit of task to collect this, if not found, please do not get depressed. Make life easy & just ommit it) + 1 whole star anise + 1" cinnamon quill + 2 nos dry red chillies, broken + 7-8 black peppercons. Saute lightly for just a few seconds. You will notice the cloves getting plumper and the cardamom seeds erupting in that pool of oil.
3. Chop up onions about 400 gms, roughly about 3-4 onins, medium to large in demanour. Add that to this spiced oil. Reduce the flame a bit, add a pinch of salt, & allow the onions to caramelise. Once they turn translucent, add in curry leaves, 7-8 leaves maybe and mix lightly. Let it cook for while, maybe 2-3 mins, while the aromatic curry leaves enliven your spirit.
4. Time to add in the necessary ginger- garlic paste, 3.5tbsp, with garlic being a major shareholder in this mix. Cook this with the onions, till you can't smell the rawness anymore.
5. Chop up about 400 gm, tomatoes and add that to the pan. Add in a little pinch of salt and give a good mix. Reduce the flame and cover & cook. Allow the tomatoes to disintegrate on their own. Trust me they don't like much disturbance.
6. Once they have turned into a liquid mass, add in the following spices: Red chilli powder , according to your tastebuds ( 2 heaped tsp, worked for me) + 2 tbsp roasted coriander powder + 3 tbsp freshly crushed black pepper + 1 tsp turmeric powder + salt. Give it a good mix on medium to high flame and cook, till you spot oil appearing on the sides and on top of the mix.
7. Time to bung in, cleaned and curry cut chicken, about 800 gms, approx. Give the chicken pieces a good mix with the spice, tomatoes and onions. Slowly the chicken will happily cover themselves in the warm blanket of all these spices. Add in 2 no, fresh red or green chillies, chopped. Keep cooking the chicken, till the bird is about half cooked. Time to pour in some warm water or chicken stock, according to your desired consistency of gravy along with 6-7 of curry leaves. Mix. Cover and allow it to cook on medium- low flame.
8. Once the chicken is ready, add in a 1tbsp of good quality ghee ( I insist on this) & some freshly chopped coriander leaves. Give one last mix, and it's ready to be served. One can opt for chapati or parantha as well, but to me & family steamed rice is the best.
Are you feeling a bit under the weather? Then this recipe can be your prescription. Not only does the melange of all these spices warms you up from inside, but the ho-hum of the black pepper will re-vitalise your soul.
There is no separate tips this time, because I have mentioned all that I had to, in the pointers. My Sunday siesta, is waiting, so I need to stop here. Take care. And do leave a note in case you have any stories or recipes to share. Promise to be back soon.
Chow.
Fabulous blog, fabulous food and recipe.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you liked it!! Do try it and let me know.
DeleteA winner, once again!☺
ReplyDeleteVery sweet of you to say that!!
Delete