Do you eat together as a family or does each member eat by themselves? I recently came across an ad that struck a chord with me. The theme of the ad was a grandmother selling off family dining table on an online site, since it was no longer being used!
Well, I still remember my sis-in-law Divya's expression during her early days at our home when she found out that we rarely eat together as a family!! With both parents working, my brother Appu and myself having different class timings, coaching classes, tuition classes and what not… the family meal kinda became non existent. My parents are not the type who fuss over whether we've eaten or not, their policy is very simple “if you are hungry, you eat what's there on the table”.
I can see a slight change in their attitude with the new additions to our family and them being more relaxed with their time (ok I sugar coated that part, I actually wanted to say; with them getting a bit older ;).
So once I got reacquainted with family meals, I decided that when I have a family of my own, I would make sure that we would have at least one meal together every day. You think it's easy because there’s just two of us, but it doesn't happen that way. I think we did it for the first few years and then it got derailed somehow. Since eating a meal together was getting kinda difficult, we make sure to have the evening coffee together. At least something to hold on to, right? :)
The reason why I was going on about this “eating together” thingy was, this recipe calls for a family meal and is a bit extravagant compared to the regular Chicken curry. Special food calls for special gatherings, right?
Coming to the recipe… The chicken is marinated in a rich blend of spices and cooked in a well balanced masala and coated with the flavoured coconut gravy in the end. I guess this description should get you to the kitchen right?
Btw, you can see more Chicken recipes here and here
You can serve it with:
Here is the recipe…
Recipe adapted from “The Flavours of Spice Coast” by Mrs.K.M. Mathew
Grind together ingredients listed under “to grind” with 3 tbsp water to a smooth paste. Marinate the cleaned chicken pieces with the ground masala for half an hour…
Heat oil in a deep and wide pan. Add sliced small onion. Cook till it turns golden brown, add crushed ginger and garlic. Cook till the raw smell goes, around 3-4 mins…
Add chicken pieces and mix well. Add thin coconut milk, bring it to a boil. Reduce the flame to the lowest and cook till the chicken is done and the gravy is reduced…
Separate the chicken pieces from the gravy…
Shallow fry the cooked chicken pieces till it becomes rich brown colour…
Add gravy to the fried chicken pieces and cook till the gravy is dried and the chicken pieces are coated well with the masala…
Ingredients
- 800 gms Chicken (measured after cleaning)
To grind
- 2.5 tsp Chilli powder
- 3 tsp Coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp Pepper powder
- 1/4 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 tsp Fennel seeds
- 3 Cardamom
- 5 Cloves
- a small piece Cinnamon
For masala
- 15 Small onion/ shallots/ pearl onion (sliced)
- 1.5 tbsp Crushed ginger and garlic (each)
- 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cups Thin coconut milk (refer notes)
- Salt
- Curry leaves
- Coconut oil
Instructions
- Grind together ingredients listed under “to grind” with 3 tbsp water to a smooth paste.
- Marinate the cleaned chicken pieces with the ground masala for half an hour.
- Heat oil in a deep and wide pan. Add sliced small onion. Cook till it turns golden brown, add crushed ginger and garlic. Cook till the raw smell goes, around 3-4 mins. Add chicken pieces and mix well. Add thin coconut milk, bring it to a boil. Reduce the flame to the lowest and cook till the chicken is done and the gravy is reduced.
- Separate the chicken pieces from the gravy. Shallow fry the cooked chicken pieces till it becomes rich brown colour. Add gravy to the fried chicken pieces and cook till the gravy is dried and the chicken pieces are coated well with the masala.
Great recipe. Just had it for dinner with ghee rice and it was a wonderful combo. There’s a good amount of flavour in the chicken without being too spicy. Loved it and I love your blog Maria. I’ve been cooking with your recipes for quite long time now and I don’t get disappointed. And let me tell you one thing, I’m not from Kerala, not even from India. I come from a totally different part of the world and yet I’m still able to cook keralan dishes and that’s because your recipes are well written with clear instructions. Thank you for posting some amazing recipes here
Hi Marzena,
Thank you very much for your lovely comment, it brought a big smile on my face :) I’m really excited and happy to know that you find the recipes here helpful. Thanks again for trying out recipes from our part of the world.
Cheers
Maria
This is Puneet again…I realized I never said Thank you for all these wonderful recipes. :)
For the Kerala Roast Chicken can one use coconut oil ? Hearing all kinds of good things about it
Thanks
Hi Puneet,
You are welcome :) Yes, you can use coconut oil for this.
Cheers
Maria
This was an amazing recipe. Simple and tasty. My family loved it and my mom just asked me to make it again tonight. I just made it two days ago.
Hi Puneet,
Thank you so much :) Really happy to know that you liked this chicken recipe. I do hope you made it again for your mom.
Cheers
Maria
Hi Maria, This chicken recipe was a life saver one for me, and my family loved it! Yours was the first blogsite I had ever ventured into. So naturally this is where I first do my search whenever I am on the look out for any new recipe. Thank you so much.
good one.. I tried and everyone just loved it.. :) :) thankssss
You are welcome Sharon :) Glad that this recipe worked out for you.
Thanks for the comment!
Cheers
Maria
What should this dish be served with? By itself or rice or roti? Looks so yum.
You can serve it with rice, roti, pathiri, your choice :)
Thank you!
This is an excellent recipe. Yesterday when we had some guests I thought I should make this chicken. I did not have coconut milk, so I took the freedom to experiment with some thick fresh cream and it turned out to be wonderful.
this is an awesome recipe. tired and loved it! thanku maria.
You are welcome Shabnam :) I’m glad you liked it.
Thank you so much for the comment!
Cheers
Maria
hi Maria – I love the personal touch to your blog notes – I am an ardent fan of your recipes. The only time I get into the kitchen is when the cook is absconding – and that time, its your recipes that come to the rescue – Keep the good work going.
Thank you so much Neena :) Really happy to know that you like the blog notes and recipes.
Cheers
Maria