Kerala chicken curry/Naadan kozhi curry

"The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it."

 Says who ?? Well , originally said by Arnold H. Glasgow but practically felt and implemented by none other than my better 1/2 . Remember ,the egg story I told you recently - *What came first eggs or chicken ...not in this world but to my humble jumble home sweet home ?? What ? You don't remember,how amnesia-tic of you? Did you just say ,"All because of your company ?"  Not fair !

 There can be only one more Ghajini on this planet,and that lady Ghajini is "ME".Ok now go and check out the above *blue link .Will you ? And those who are like ,"What is she speaking "? - Well,YOU TOO - check that above link and come back .THEN this post will make more sense to you ;Come on enlighten your brain and wake up those idle brain cells ! If you did - Read next !

I love chicken legs !

So,dear friends, this is the story of - How I used to chicken out ..err..I mean ...how chicken came to my new ,re-defining ,re-designing phase of my life (after my marriage) and made it completely topsy-turvy .
 
I remember, how I used to escape or pretend that I didn't see that aisle in the supermarket, haunted with skinless chicken dead bodies but deep in my heart how I wished someone would make a chicken curry for me everyday..one day hubby did try, only to realize later that it has got a potential to become an inevitable habit for his cooking illiterate wife ..so he hesitated .As kind as I am ,I felt deep mercy for him too .So,I didn't bother him either. All those chicken curries from restaurants ,as much as I hated but thinking of the bigger picture ,a part of the order, I always got it packed to go. But you know,they finish VERY quickly!

So,as time went by ,tired of my ways to satisfy my cravings for chicken and chicken being the only non-veg (meat) item my hubby would love to eat ,I had no other option than to roll over my sleeves, put my chef cap on and gear up,once a month at least, to prepare a chicken curry Indian style especially .

But as lady luck is my best foe , whenever I tried to make a Chicken curry ,my hubby was like ,"Oh wow honey,is it a Filipino style chicken curry ?" Next month ,it would be ,"Is it a Thai chicken curry?" and continued ,"Is it North Indian-East Indian-West Indian but not like South Indian ?" What is it Honey ?

That left me speechless but this saga continued for couple more years till my amma/mother came to US of A .When I was narrating this story to her ,I thought she will be lol-ing but how did I forget - She rolled my ears and my earrings were hanging upside down....poor thing - it was new !

As usual,mom's class started ,"Now you know ,why I used to ask you to help me out in the kitchen ."
I was like ,"A a aaaa oo Ouch ,I know I know." She thought she was successful in giving me another lecture though I was only trying to get rid of her hands from my beautiful ears and my new earrings.

To add fuel to the fire which I was trying hard to extinguish ,my dad would also remind her ,"Teach her everything ,all Kerala curries especially ." 

Needless to mention,momma taught me step by step ,how to make a chicken curry Indian style especially Kerala style and I was like an assistant ,who was silently taking down the notes .There on ,chicken curry became one of my specialty .

So,this is how I make Kerala style chicken curry a.k.a naadan kozhi curry ,

Amma's Kerala Chicken curry recipe

Ingredients 

Chicken,whole,chopped into bite size pieces - 1 kg

Onion,medium,finely sliced - 3 nos.

Green chillies,chopped - 3-4 nos.

Ginger paste - 2 teaspoons

Garlic paste - 2 teaspoons

Tomato ,medium ,chopped - 2 nos

Coriander powder - 3 tablespoons

Red chilly powder - 2 tablespoon

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Kerala Garam Masala - 1/2 teaspoon

Pepper powder - 1/2 tablespoon

 Fennel powder - 1/2 tablespoon

Coconut oil - 4-5 tablespoons

Mustard seeds - 1-2 teaspoon 

Salt to taste

Water - 1 1/2 cup

Coconut milk - 1/2 cup (optional)

Curry leaves - a few

For marinating : (optional)

Salt 1 teaspoon OR

Yogurt -3/4 cup OR

Lime juice - 2 teaspoon

Method:

1. Clean and wash the chicken well and cut them into bite size pieces.
2. Marinate the chicken with salt/yogurt/lime juice and keep it aside for about 20-30 minutes.
3. Heat oil in a wide pan/Kadai.Add mustard seeds to it and allow it to splutter (on high-low flame).
4. Sprinkle little salt to cook brown onion faster.
5. Add the onion slices and green chillies,saute until onions turn dark brown on medium flame.
6. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute it on low flame until the raw smell of ginger-garlic is gone.
7. Add a few curry leaves to it.
8. Add the chopped tomatoes to it and saute.
9. Add all spices to it and saute on low flame for a minute or two.
10. Cover it until tomatoes turn soft .
11. Add the chicken pieces to it.Mix everything well.
12. Add water to it and allow it to boil.
13. Once it reaches the boiling point,lower the flame,cover it with a lid and let it simmer for a while.
14. Once the chicken pieces are well cooked and the curry becomes thick,then add the coconut milk.(Don't allow it to boil )
15. Add remaining curry leaves and after a minute or two ,put off the flame.
16. Serve hot with boiled rice or chapathi/roti,pulao,paratha,idiappam,appam,naan or as YOU wish.

Notes:

• Marinating with any of those ingredients makes the chicken tender and juicy.You can avoid it and still make tasty curry.
•  The taste of the curry may vary according to the garam masala or any chicken masala used.Try to use any Kerala special masala for sure.
• Coconut oil and coconut milk makes it extra special,Kerala special taste.
• Adjust the spices as per your taste.This is a spicy curry!!
• This curry tastes best when served the next day.

So,that's how my hubby's patience paid off eventually.Not only this curry ,I also made other delicious Indian chicken curries like Mughlai zafrani chicken curry, Puransingh chicken curry , Patiala chicken curry and more coming up .

I say for the time being ,YOU also have patience ,just wait and watch,

Eat,love,live DELICIOUSLY,

Banana Payasam|Banana dessert Kerala style |Cavendish Bananas in Jaggery and coconut milk

What do you do when you have Bananas sitting on your counter top like a "Vegetable Dalmatian", you know all decorated with different types of black spots , starring at you and begging you,"Please don't throw me, USE ME." ??

Well, I literally "Go Banana" . As my family,right from my mother to my hubby are strict against wasting food/food related stuffs  and using it properly as soon as possible (especially the perishable ones),I've to be extremely careful to do so or come up with any ideas to use them before they become trash worthy .Such is the case with Bananas when they are covered with dark patches all over . Man,do they challenge my creativity ....

Moreover , did you know that,as the bananas gets fully ripened with patches,they in fact create "TNF" (Tumor Necrosis Factor),meaning in lay man's terms it has more anti-cancer qualities that can combat abnormal cells in the human body and so,it enhances the immunity overall.(Source :onegreenplanet.org)...Having said that,it has a drawback as well,the sugar content spikes accordingly so it won't be good for Diabetic people...

Anyways,lets concentrate on the bright side here,and I must say I am quite impressed after learning about the anti-cancer properties it possess,so,I definitely had to come up with developing a recipe with the ripened "Banana with patches" and I DID !

Desserts like Payasam are quite forgiving and can be transformed into many different varieties as per your creativity . So, I tried making a Prathaman using regular (Cavendish) Banana with little Jaggery,little coconut milk,ghee,nuts = DELISH !! It tasted like the naivaidyam I used to get in a temple in Kerala - you know ,the taste of milk with Banana kind of naivaidyam/prasadam...just like that..So,I believe you can use the bananas without patches and make this payasam and even offer it as a prasad to almighty as well....This is how I make a Banana Prathaman...Kerala style ofcourse ...

Banana Pradhaman

.......................................................................................................................................................................
Ingredients
.......................................................................................................................................................................

• Ripe Cavendish Bananas - 2-3 nos.
• Jaggery - 1 cube
• Water - 1 cup
• Dry Ginger powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Cardamon powder - 1 teaspoon
• Thin coconut milk -1 and 1/2 cups
• Thick coconut milk - 3/4 cup
• Dry coconut pieces,broken - 1 tablespoon
• Cashew nuts - 10 approx
• Raisins - 5-10 approx
• Cloves - 2 nos. (optional)
• Ghee - 2-3 tablespoons
• A pinch of salt (Optional)
  

......................................................................................................................................................................
Method
.......................................................................................................................................................................

• Peel and slice the Banana,mash them and keep it aside.
• Boil the jaggery in water until it melts completely and strain to remove any impurities.Keep it aside.
• Heat a pan or kadai with 2 tablespoons of ghee.
• Add cloves.
• Now add the mashed Banana .Give a stir.Keep it in a low flame.
• Add the liquid jaggery to it and let it boil.Once it reaches the boiling point,reduce the flame,let it simmer until it thickens a bit.
• Now add the thin coconut milk to it.Sprinkle the ginger powder and cardamom powder and mix.Stir everything and cook on medium flame until it thickens.Keep stirring in between.
• Add the thick coconut milk to it.Let it simmer for a few minutes on low flame until it thickens.Never allow it to boil.
• Heat rest of the ghee in a pan and fry dry coconut pieces,cashews and raisins on medium-low flame until the coconut pieces turn light brown. Add them to the above payasam.
• Stir well everything.
• Sprinkle a dash of salt (to balance the sweetness).
• Serve immediately or chilled later as you wish.

Tips :

• For making homestyle coconut milk , grate a coconut, mix it in a glass of warm water,keep it aside for a few minutes and then squeeze the milk using hand or mixer and strain it,which will be the thick coconut milk/Onnam paal in malayalam.Take the squeezed grated coconut used before repeat the method again and extract which will produce the thin coconut milk/Randaam paal.Strain it.There are also ready made coconut milk available in the market.That can be substituted as well.For thick version use just as it is and for thinner version, dilute little water to it.Follow the instruction on the can or pack. or watch my video that shows how to extract coconut milk at home ?
• This is a VERY SWEET payasam.So you can adjust the sweetness,by reducing the jaggery or adding a pinch of salt and I added the cloves for the same reason. 
• This dessert tends to thicken if not served immediately.So,add little coconut milk not the milk (milk may curdle) to get the desired consistency later,if needed.

Have a yummy day and LIFE ;),

Mango Pachadi Kerala style|Sadya special

 

 
Last week I got two boxes full of mangoes for $10 ..you know B1G1/BOGO ...Buy one get one free !!...That made my day......The shopkeeper thought I got gold not Mangoes...When I looked at him he was like,"It's ok ,that's for you only,I won't take it back."

I was super excited so was Honey P ...Later after coming home...Honey P asked," How are you gonna eat all these Mangoes ?" Don't waste any . I was like ..Come on Honey ..They will be gone in no time..

Two ,three days we had Mangoes .Fourth day got fed up.I thought may be we'll take a break for one day and next day it will taste much better somehow.(My weird assumptions!)...

Fifth day came and passed ..so did the sixth day....on seventh day saw my hubby constantly starring at my dinning table ..I thought he was day dreaming....then all of a sudden his one eye was on me and other on the fruit bowl sitting on the dinning table...Then my eye was on him and the dinning table...and I realized what was going on ...Aaaah Mangoes !

I got the clear cut indication that I should better finish those mangoes soon ...and there started my saga of creating recipes of mango exclusively...I started with the Mango prathaman the other day...and the second one is the Mango Pachadi,a Kerala style dish made with Mango and yogurt as the main ingredients.Different types of Pachadis are there like Carrot,Beet root,pineapple etc but this time I made Sweet and sour Mango Pachadi ,my favorite so far . Any type of Pachadis are a must in a Kerala Sadya.

Mango Pachadi

.......................................................................................................................................................................
Ingredients
.......................................................................................................................................................................

Ripe Mango,large - 1 no.
Shallots, chopped- 2 nos.
Green chillies , chopped- 3-4nos.
Beaten Yogurt/Curd - 1 cup 

Salt to taste

To grind

Coconut, grated- 1/2 cup

Cumin seeds/jeeragam-1/4 teaspoon

Fenugreek seeds-a pinch

Shallot/kunjulli- 1 no.

Mustard seeds -1/3 teaspoon

For tempering

Coconut oil -1 tablespoon

Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon

Dry red chilies - 2

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

.......................................................................................................................................................................
Method
.......................................................................................................................................................................

• Peel and slice the sweet mango and using a mixer,extract the pulp.Keep it aside.
• Grind everything-coconut, cumin, fenugreek seeds, shallot with a teaspoon or more of water until it becomes a smooth paste and then add the mustard seeds (under the grind list above) and  in the mixer, give it a pulse so that it just gets mixed with the paste. 
• Heat a pan, put the oil, splutter the mustard seeds, add the dry chilies and curry leaves .
• Put the shallots , green chilies in the tempering pan above and fry them lightly for couple of  minutes until shallots become transparent.
• Now add the mango pulp to the above ,on low flame keep stirring for a minute or two .
• Add the ground paste to the above mixture and stir for a minute or more until the raw smell disappears on low flame.
• Finally add the beaten yogurt , mix everything well and put it on high flame but as soon as you see a bubble forming, immediately turn off the stove. (Don't allow it to boil at all or it may curdle.It should be just heated and be warm enough)
• Add salt to taste.Put off the flame.
• Mango pachadi is ready to be served as a side dish with hot rice and especially with Sadya.

Tips:

• It's a sweet and sour curry.The sweetness of mango is balanced using the ground paste.

Here I also have a Beetroot Pachadi .

Eat,love,live deliciously,