"Hot and Spicy Chicken Curry" ... It's been sometime since I prepared this curry as it is very spicy and I somehow prefer less spicy dishes, however the dish tastes best that way, so I always serve this with mildly spiced Veg. Pulav or Roti/ Parathas as it blends well with them ... so does it with Naan .... Yummilicious .....
** Here comes a fantastic chicken curry for of you who who love spicy non-veg curries. This curry was somehow lost in my old books and I retrieved it along with a few more recipes a few weeks back while searching through my old dairies. This is a very spicy curry and the first time I prepared it a few decades back, to my dismay the curry turned out too spicy and I still remember eating it with tears rolling down my cheeks and how my hubby was giggling looking at my face. Those days he could eat very spicy dishes while I liked medium spiced dishes only, now however for my relief both of us prefer medium spiced dishes. However, those days, we ate and finished off whatever was cooked without bothering to set it right as being new in kitchen, I too did not know of tips and tricks that could be used to cut down that spice level and setting the dish right. But I do appreciate hubby for bearing with that curry, though I had given up midway as I cannot digest spicy dishes, he somehow managed it though towards the end he too was all red on face.
** Well I did jot down a warning note besides that recipe in red ink so that the next time I would not goof up on the same. Coming across the recipe in the old diary literally made me giggle for quite some time remembering those days. Though, I did later on prepare this curry a few more times cutting down the spice level, somehow the taste was not the same and it did differ. Not knowing much about non-veg preparation, I guessed the taste of the curry lied in making it spicy, so I finally never bothered to prepare it and that remained just in books. This time however I decided to give it a try again, making in minute changes and it really did turn out wonderful, though the spice level was still there, but could be enjoyed. This one definitely tastes great with naan or parathas or for that matter even kulchas, but I had to do with mildly spiced vegetable pulav as that would be really added burden on my shoulders and I did not want to end up on resting mode for few days. Do try out this delicious but spicy recipe and enjoy with your family and friends.
** Here is my very own recipe for "Hot and Spicy Chicken Curry" ... My Style …
** Ingredients :
Chicken : 700 gms cut into medium sized pieces.
** To be applied to the Chicken pieces :
Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder/Mirchi Powder/Mirsange Pitti : 1 tblsp
Haldi/ Turmeric Powder : 1 tsp
Salt/Namak : 1 tsp
** Spices to be Powdered :
Cinnamon/Tike Saal/Dalchini : 2 sticks of 2 inch length each.
Cloves/Lavang/Laung : 6-8
Black Pepper Corns/Mire/Kali Miri : 10-12
Green Cardamoms/Ellaichi/Yellu : 3-4
** Masala to be roasted and ground :
Coconut/Soyi/Nariyal : 1 heaped cup
Kashmiri Red Chillies/Kumte Mirsanga/Byadgi Mirchi : 4-5
Tamarind/Imly/Chinchama : 1 small lemon sized ball.
** For Ginger-Garlic Paste:
Ginger/Alle’/Adrak : 1 inch piece
Garlic/Losum/Lehsun :8-10
** For the Preparation of the Curry :
Bay Leaves/Tej Patta : 2-3 small one’s
Curry Leaves/Kadipatta/Karbevu : 8-10
Star Anise : 2
Black Cardamom : 2-3
Onions/Piyavu/Kanda : 5 large sized.
Hing/Asafoetida Powder : ½ tsp
Malvani Masala Powder : 2 tblsp (Store bought)
Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder/Mirchi Powder/Mirsange Pitti : 2 tblsp
Coriander/Dhania/Kothimbir Powder : 1 tblsp
Cumin/Jeera Powder : 1 tsp
Fennel/Saunf/Badisep Powder : ½ tsp
Goda Masala Powder : 1 tblsp
OR Garam Masala Powder : 1 tblsp
Coriander Leaves/Dhania/Kothambari Pallo : ½ + 2tblsp cup finely chopped.
Loni/Butter : one lemon sized ball (Optional_
Ghee/Toop : 3-4 tblsp
Oil/Tel : 3-4 tblsp
** Clean, wash and pat dry the chicken pieces. Put the pieces in a wide stainless steel vessel and add in salt, haldi powder and chilly powder and mix all well. See to it that the pieces are well coated. Cover it and keep it aside for 1 hour till we finish with the preparations for the curry.
** In a thick bottomed kadai roast cinnamon sticks, cloves, black pepper corns, green cardamoms for a few minutes. Remove and put this in a mixer grinder and grind it to a coarse powder. Remove and keep this aside ready. DO NOT ADD WATER.
** In the same kadai roast finely grated coconut till it is lightly browned. Add in Kashmiri red chillies cut into pieces, towards the end and mix well. Remove and put this in mixer grinder along with one small lemon sized ball of tamarind and grind to a smooth paste with little bit of water. Remove and keep this aside ready.
** For Ginger-Garlic Paste: Grind to a fine paste ginger cut into small pieces along with peeled and crushed garlic with very little bit of water and keep this also ready aside. DO NOT ADD MORE WATER.
** Peel off the skin of the onions and cut two onions into fine pieces and the slice the other three into lengthwise finely and keep them separately ready aside.
** For the Preparation of the Curry : Heat Ghee +Oil in a thick bottomed kadai. When hot add in bay leaves, curry leaves, star anise, Black Cardamoms cut into two and fry for a few seconds. Now add in 2 onions chopped finely and further fry till they change slightly brown in colour. Now add in the 3 onion sliced thinly and continue frying till they turn translucent.
** When onions are fried and done add hing powder, ginger garlic paste and continue to sauté' for a minute or two. Add in the powdered masala and mix well. If you find it necessary do add in 1 or 2 tblsp of extra oil for frying the masala well. Now add Malvani Masala powder, kashmiri red chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, fennel powder, Goda Masala or Garam Masala and mix well. Fry all the ingredients for a few minutes on medium to low heat.
** Now add the prepared and kept aside chicken pieces into the fried masala, mix well and fry for a minute till all the masala has coated the pieces well. Now add 3-4 cups of hot water, mix well and bring all to a rolling boil on high heat. Then lower the heat to minimum and cook covered till the chicken pieces are 80% cooked. Do give a good stir to the curry in between to avoid it getting burnt and if you find that the water is less do add in another cup and let cook.
** Now add in ground coconut masala and finely chopped coriander leaves, leaving aside the 2 tblsp for garnishing later and mix well. Once again check consistency, add water only if necessary and then let the curry get cooked well on medium heat till the chicken pieces are done. You can insert a fork into the chicken pieces to check if done. Simmer for say about 10 minutes and then remove from fire. Add a lemon sized ball of loni/ butter and keep it aside covered while we prepare for the seasoning.
** For Seasoning/Tempering : Heat ghee, when melted add in mustard seeds and when they begin to crackle add in the whole red chillie, green chillies slit lengthwise, fresh curry leaves and fry for a minute and then pour it over the curry. Garnish the curry with the finely chopped coriander leaves kept aside. Cover and leave the curry aside to settle for at least an hour before serving to get infused.
** "Hot and Spicy Chicken Curry" is done and ready to be served. This is a very hot and spicy curry so it tastes best when served with something milder in taste like naan, kulcha, paraths or roti. The curry also tastes great with mildly spiced pulav, vegetable rice, ghee rice or jeera rice too. You can include both pulav and roti if desired by your family as many a times each one have their own preferences. I served it with Veg. pulav which I had prepared without much of masala and it tasted great, but will taste even better for sure with naan or parotas.
** Do try out this tasty dish and relish with any side dish of your choice. You can decrease the spice level in the curry if you have young children at home. Again, if the elders in your home want it spicy while the others prefer moderate spice level, just prepare it in the medium spice level and then for those who would love to relish it spicier just keep aside some of the curry, heat a tablespoon or two of oil and add kashmiri red chilly powder to it, fry it for just few seconds, remove and add it to curry, mix well and bring to a boil and you will also have a spicier version ready to be served.
** Note : Addition of loni/butter is optional and you may leave it out if you do not like it or want to avoid the same. Somehow, I have always followed this method for decades now as I love the buttery taste it gives to dishes, adding on its own flavor and actually cuts down the fiery taste of excess spicy dishes. Do try it once, you can add on a little bit lesser to if desired or if you want you can add it on to only your children’s dishes by remove a little part of the curry and adding to it only as loni/butter is really easier on tummy for smooth digestion of non-veg. dishes.
** Note : Goda Masala Powder is a very popular spicy masala powder that is prepared by large in Maharashtrian home. It is similar to Garam Masala, but it does have more masala ingredients added on to it. The masala powder is very aromatic and gives fantastic taste to any dishes when added on. I have now begun to add on this masala to many of my dishes in place of garam masala as it lifts the dishes totally to a different level making it that much tastier. This powder is easily available in stores and I have always purchased it as my requirement is minimum to prepare the same at home.
** Note : Do give the chicken curry some resting time, as it taste that much better as it gets infused in flavors when allowed to settle. A minimum of one hour standby is great but it would taste better if left aside for say about 3-4 hours. You can then thoroughly bring it a good boil and medium to high heat and then add in coriander leaves for garnishing and serve immediately with pulav or roti. Try it and you will simply love it this way, I cook early morning and by the time we have it for lunch a minimum of 6 hours will have passed by and it tastes wonderful. The choice is however entirely yours.
** Note : I have served the curry with simply midly spiced Vegetable Pulav, you can serve with any accompaniment of your choice. However I am sharing a few links below, one for the Veg. Pulav and the others are common link to all the rice dishes and roti dishes in my Blog. You can go through the links and choose that which you would love to try and serve with the dish. You can also use the search option on the left side of the Blog and reach more recipes and try them out too.
** An Earnest Request : There are many more recipes of different types in the blog. For all my Recipes, use the search option or the label section in the Blog. If you are still not able to find it or have a query, please leave a message in comment section or mail me the same. I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible. Do try out various types of dishes included in the Blog and Enjoy them with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible.
** I am happy to inform you that I have also started a food group for by the name "KONKANI DELICACIES" which is over and year old, with about 23 K strong members. It is a pleasure to inform that you will find in the group many more recipes posted by our expert members and you too can share some of your own. The link to the group is posted on the left side of the blog page. Do join us in our culinary journey. I strongly believe in Sharing and always endorse that "Sharing Is Caring" Thank You.
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