Chicken Curry : Mangalorean Cuisine

The main course for Sunday lunch for most Mangy households is Chicken. Every Sunday after mass Mummy would usually buy fresh chicken from the butcher and prepare the most awesome curry. Sometimes there would be Kori Roti, Sannas, Bread, Pulav or Rice. Whatever be the item, chicken curry would be the common denominator for all these items. The color of the gravy used to vary from yellowish orange (Coconut Masala) to green (Coriander Masala). Being Mangy always meant that Coconut was the main ingredient in all if not most of the dishes, be it veggies or non-veggies or chutneys or anything. You just can’t imagine a dish without coconut.

Anyways, cooking chicken curry from my mom’s recipe was very simple. It had the basic ingredients like coconut, onion, tomatoes, chilies, garlic, ginger, the usual spices and chicken. The secret to the texture of the chicken curry is the grinding of all spices and coconut together to make a nice smooth paste. My mixer is not as good for fine grinding but it comes close. Still if you want a good consistency of the gravy, hand grinding of the masala is a good call. It may be time consuming but it’s all worth the muscles.

Another good thing about cooking chicken curry apart from being simple is that it tastes amazing the next day too. So just add extra water to the gravy while cooking. Chicken curry if properly stored and heated can be eaten for 3 days. And every passing day the chicken curry flavors even more. You can actually taste the spices. One ingredient I have used to experiment in the chicken curry I prepared is tamarind. It neutralizes all the chicken smell while cooking and gives a good chatpata taste.

Hope you all have tried cooking the recipes. People! I do need feedback so that I can be pursuing my quest to perfection. Below is the recipe to Chicken Curry Mangy style.

Recipe:
1 Kg. Chicken (with bones clean and cut in small pieces)
3 medium Onions (chopped)
2 medium tomatoes (chopped)
3 Green Chilies (Deveined)
1 small stick of cinnamon
10 – 12 Curry Leaves
3 cloves
2 pieces cardamom
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp Tamarind water (Tamarind as big as your finger nail - put in hot water and squeeze the life of the Tamarind)
6 tbsp Oil
Salt to Taste
Water

For the Gravy:
1 half of the coconut kernel (grated and roasted to remove the moisture)
3 Kashmiri chilies
½ tbsp Coriander seeds (kanpeer)
1 tbsp Cumin seeds (jeera)
1 tbsp mustard seeds (sasao)
½ tbsp Fennel seeds (saunf)
10-12 pepper corns
1 pcs. Fresh Ginger (as big as your thumb – Chopped)
6 cloves of Garlic
½ pcs. Onion (chopped)

1. Hand Grind or Grind (Mixer) the ingredients from the Gravy items to a smooth fine paste. Keep on grinding till paste is a smooth paste. Keep adding water so that the paste is consistent.

2. Take a deep vessel, add oil. Once oil is hot add the chopped onions and curry leaves. Once the onions are transparent add the green chilies and the spices (Cardamom, Clove, Bay Leaves & Cinnamon) and fry.

3. Once the onions turn brown, add the chicken and cover the vessel with a lid and cook the chicken in the oil.

4. When he chicken turns pale white, add the tomatoes and let the tomatoes bleed till there is gravy formed.

5. Add the ground coconut masala and tamarind water to the vessel and mix it well with the chicken. Keep gas at a minimum and let the masala melt in the chicken. Once the oil starts leaving the chicken and starts going to the sides of the vessel. Add 3 cups of water (this depends on how much gravy you want).

6. Stir the contents of the vessel and cover the vessel and let it simmer.

7. In 10 – 15 minutes the gravy starts boiling. Use the poke test to check the tenderness of the chicken. Add salt to taste and shut down the gas and keep the lid on. Done!!!

Photos to follow.