Flavors of the South : Kerala Style Chicken Tomato Roast

Someone, somewhere seems to have a vendetta with Bangalore. We seem to have become quite the dumping ground for the impetuousness of our weather mother. In the last two months we have had the harshest of summers so far. And I have been sneezing almost the whole day, every single day, because it’s pollen time here! (thanks to the allergy streak that runs in our family!) Sneezing, feeling like a zombie by the end of the day, managing a home and of course most importantly entertaining a one and a half year old toddler who is now constantly throwing tantrums for absolutely nothing at all is not just tiring but leads to “Brain Freeze”!!! (Yes, yes I’m finding excuses to say I was busy and hence couldn’t blog for long! Lame but true!!!) But THANK GOD FOR THE RAINS!!! Hoping that the heat settles down and the cool pleasant weather that Bangalore is famous for gets back soon.

You can well imagine how super excited I am about today. Oh, how come, you ask? Well I’m blogging after nearly 3 months and I cannot tell you how happy I am to share this sumptuous recipe with all you beautiful people.

I wanted to share a lovely recipe for an easy and super tasty chicken roast that would be perfect for any occasion; you actually don’t even need an occasion to make this yummy dish. This is one of the first dishes I learnt after marriage and I don’t know how I missed sharing this with you all this while!! Silly me…

I like this dish because it is quick to put together; a no fuss recipe and loaded with flavor. Chicken marinated in spices and cooked in a thick coconut gravy, heavenly is all I can say! This succulent chicken dish is so deliciously tantalizing. And when teamed up with simple jeera rice, pulav or phulkas, it is simply irresistible.

So let’s get on to this delicious recipe. Cook it up for family and friends. Cook, share and feel happy. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1/2 kg Chicken

Ingredients for Marination

1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder

1 teaspoon Red Chili/Kashmiri Chili powder

1 teaspoon Vinegar

Salt; to taste

Ingredients for Masala

3 large size Big Onion; finely sliced

1 tablespoon each of Ginger & Garlic paste

2 & 1/2 teaspoons of Coriander powder

1 & 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of Kashmiri Chili powder

1 teaspoon Garam masala

1/2 teaspoon Fennel powder

2 large Tomatoes; finely sliced

3/4 to 1 cup Thick Coconut Milk

Curry Leaves

Salt; to taste

Coconut oil or any Refined oil (refer notes)

Method of Preparation

Wash and clean the chicken pieces and make deep gashes in them. Marinate the cleaned chicken with ingredients listed under “Ingredients for Marination” and keep in the refrigerator for half an hour. (overnight marination provides best results)

Shallow fry the marinated chicken pieces till it becomes golden brown on either side & the chicken is half cooked. (refer notes) Remove the chicken pieces from the pan.

To the same pan, add the sliced onions & a pinch of salt. Cook till onions turn golden brown. Add the ginger & garlic paste and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes or till raw smell disappears. Throw in the coriander, red chilli, garam masala & fennel powders and fry for a few minutes till masala is cooked through. Add sliced tomatoes & curry leaves along with enough salt and mix well. When the tomatoes become soft and oil appears (add one or two splashes of water to get a nice paste like consistency), add the fried chicken pieces and give a good stir till the masala coats the chicken well. Now add the thick coconut milk and mix well. Cover and cook till the gravy is very thick. (15 to 20 minutes approximately) The chicken pieces should be succulent & coated well with the masala. This curry has a semi-thick gravy. Serve hot with plain rice/pulav/roti/appam.

Notes:

1. You can use any refined oil for this dish but honestly coconut oil enhances the flavor and lifts the dish to a whole new level. So it’s totally your call!

2. If you want to avoid excess oil usage, you can skip shallow frying the chicken. Directly proceed to cooking the marinated chicken pieces in a non-stick pan with very little oil and then adding this into the prepared tomato and onion masala with coconut milk.

Recipe Courtesy: Vanitha (with a few tweaks of my own!)