Kerala Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 700 gms chicken with bones; cut into really small pieces
- 2 medium potatoes; diced
For marination:
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp ginger; grated
- 1 tsp garlic; grated
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp fennel seeds; crushed
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Salt to season
- Coconut oil; for shallow frying the chicken
For the gravy:
- 4-5 green chillies add more or less depending on the heat of the chillies used
- 2-3 sprigs curry leaves
- 1 inch ginger; julienned
- 1 large onion; diced
- 200 ml coconut milk thin extract
- 200 ml coconut milk thick extract
- 1 tsp black peppercorns; crushed
- Salt to season
Instructions
- As mentioned, the chicken pieces must be small. So make sure you ask the butcher to cut accordingly. Clean and wash the chicken pieces; drain well.
- In a bowl, add the chicken pieces along with all the ingredients mentioned under marination. Mix well to combine and marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Heat coconut oil in a pan, and shallow fry the chicken pieces till just about done. (Don’t overcook the chicken as it tends to go rubbery after adding to the stew gravy). Do this in batches and keep aside.
- In another pot or pressure cooker, add the diced potatoes along with the green chillies, half of the curry leaves and ginger, onion and season with salt.
- If using a pressure cooker, do not add any water and cook for just one whistle. If using a regular pot, add ½ – 1 cup water, just enough to cook the potato.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, add the thin coconut milk extract (refer notes above if using canned coconut milk) and the fried chicken pieces. Bring to boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt if necessary.
- Reduce heat and add the thick coconut milk extract and crushed black pepper. Mix and remove from heat.
- Serve warm garnished with curry leaves and julienned ginger.
Notes
If you are using canned coconut milk, then dilute 200ml of coconut milk with 150ml water to get the thin extract.