Chettinad chicken is a South Indian recipe. Here we will tell you all about this recipe to help you cook it like an authentic South Indian mommy!
Food is one of the trendiest things these days, as there are many food lovers. Trying different cuisines is a hobby for many people who want to taste different kinds of food. And if we are talking about cuisines, it is notable that Indian cuisine is one of the best.
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South Indian chicken curry recipe origin
People who are into cooking and eating have undoubtedly tried eating or making Indian food. The vegetarian section of the Indian cuisine is good, but there is something special about the non-veg Indian food that is extraordinary. Chicken is especially an exceptional food in India due to its versatility that allows it to be made with a wide range of ingredients.
One such delicious chicken recipe is the Chettinad chicken which is highly famous in Tamilnadu. It is a classical Indian recipe made in the 18th and 19th centuries in Chettinad, Tamilnadu.
This dish is one of the many Chettinad foods and is no wander a widespread dish. Even though the region’s vegetarian-dominated diet and food habits, this dish makes it one of the best in that region.
Chettinad cuisine has a wide range of complex and delicious flavors. These flavors include various spices native to the area like clove, cumin, bay leaves, fenugreek, fennel, tamarind, turmeric, etc.
The Chettinad chicken curry represents one of the dishes in the delicious Chettinad cuisine. Like almost every chicken recipe, this dish is made with various Indian spices, vegetables, and flavors. It is a delightful dish that attracts food lovers to cook and eat it.
Chettinad recipe ingredients
As an Indian recipe, this dish is filled with spices and flavors found locally. This variety of spices and flavors makes Chettinad dishes so delicious. And this taste and flavor are not limited to only one Chettinad dish but instead includes most Chettinad cuisine. In India, it is a delicacy to have flavorful spices, fresh vegetables, and meat for a particular dish, and the Chettinad chicken is a perfect example of that.
The use of unique Indian spices is mandatory in Chettinad cuisine. Due to the strong influence of rich Indian flavoring in Chettinad cuisine, it is delicious and unique.
Spices like cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, star anise, red chilies, bay leaves, cumin seeds, peppercorn, etc. With this many spices options, there is a wide variety of recipes that can be prepared.
On top of that, there are some secret ingredients in Chettinad cuisine. These secret ingredients include black stone flowers, Kalpasi, and dried flower pods. These ingredients give the richness and flavor of typical Indian cuisine.
Another vital ingredient they use in Chettinad other than spices is vegetables. They like to have fresh vegetables for their delicious Chettinad cuisine. For example, the Chettinad chicken recipe is not only made of spices and chicken but also delicious vegetables.
The combination of spices, meat, and veggies that goes very well with that flavor makes this cuisine incredibly delicious. They mainly use sun-dried veggies in their recipe as this technique helps preserve the vegetable’s nutritional value. Their curry uses sun-dried veggies like carrots, onions, capsicums, garlic, and more.
The authentic Chettinad chicken gravy is usually made to eat with something else like rice. However, rather than serving it with actual rice, they often depend on having gravy with rice-based recipes instead. This curry and rice-based food combination is exceptionally delicious and goes perfectly with each other. This is because the curry is spicy, and the rice-based food has a soft mild taste neutralizing the overly hot gravy and giving a delicious flavor.
Chettinadu recipies
As Chettinad cuisine has many dishes, there are options for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals. Traditional Chettinad dishes include Palkatti, Chettinadu, Idiyappam, Paal Payasam, Urlai roast, Vellai Paniyaram, Aatikkari, and of course Chettinad chicken curry.
Some other delicious Chettinad dishes are Kuzhambu, Coconut and Soya Paneer Vada, Cabbage Poriyal, Vellai Kurma, Kaikari Pirattal, etc. There is also some tasty and famous seafood, and this community lives within the proximity of the sea. Thus, dishes like fish curry, prawn masala, and crab curry and pretty popular.
There are also seafood dishes and animal food like jungle fowl, quail, rabbits, turkey, and chicken. Of course, this seafood and animal meat curry are eaten with steamed rice or rice-based items like Uppams, Dosas, and Idlis. Chettinad chicken fry or curry is a dish originating in Chettinad, Tamilnadu.
This is one of the most popular dishes from the south Indian region. This dish is a delicacy among the native people, and even others trying it will fall in love with it. This delicious curry is made by garnishing and mixing freshly ground coconut and various delicious spices like chili, coriander, etc.
This dish is a fairly heavy meal, and one can have it with steamed rice or other rice-based recipes. This meal serves roughly 200 grams of whole food, with 570 calories, 30 grams protein, 42 grams fat, and 125 mg cholesterol. Indeed, such a heavy, flavorful, and spicy food has many calories that sometimes might be too much for your body. But cooking and having it less often is fine, especially with meat and vegetables in it.
Chicken Chettinad main ingredients
Chettinad chicken is perhaps the most famous non-vegetarian dish in Chettinad cuisine. If you want gravy Chettinad chicken or Chettinad chicken fry, there are some ingredients that you will need. The first and most important ingredient of these is chicken.
- Buy fresh chicken of 1 or 2 kg
- You will need 30 small onions or 2 to 3 big onions, 2 small-sized tomatoes for flavoring vegetables
- 1 tablespoon of chili powder, 2 to 3 tablespoons of coriander powder, 2 teaspoons of ginger garlic paste
- 20 pods of garlic are also necessary even after adding ginger garlic paste
- You need 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder, 2 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons of curd
- You also need 2 cardamoms, 2 small-sized pieces of cinnamon, 2 cloves
- A small piece of star anise, small amounts of mint leaves, birinji leaf, one tablespoon of fennel seed, and little pieces of curry leaves
- 2 tablespoons of coconut as more than that will ruin the taste and make the gravy look bad
- 5 cashew nuts, which is a substitute for the traditional kas kas as it is difficult to grind. But you can always go for kas kas if you want
- 1 teaspoon of fennel seed and finally 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
These are the Chicken Chettinad main ingredients necessary for making chicken curry. Various ingredients are discussed and used for multiple purposes in the recipe.
For example, the main recipe requires chicken, onions, garlic, tomatoes, chili powder, and coriander powder. But for marination, you need ingredients like curd, turmeric powder, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and garlic ginger paste.
You will require cardamom, cinnamon, mint leaf, curry leaf, fennel seed, star anise, clove, and birinji leaves for seasoning. And grinding ingredients are, of course, coconuts, fennel seeds, and cashewnuts.
Full chicken chettinad recipe
One of the best non-vegetarian recipes in south India is undoubtedly the Chettinad chicken curry. Earlier, we have discussed the ingredients required in the recipe now. But, first, we will talk about the method itself. You need to follow these steps correctly to get the result needed in this recipe.
Step 1
Firstly the marination part comes, where you have to properly season and marinate the meat to get the desired flavors into it. To make Chettinad chicken Kulambu the marinate needs to be thorough and reasonable.
Put the chicken in a big bowl and add 1 tablespoon of garlic paste. After that, add less than half a teaspoon of turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon of red chili powder. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt and half teaspoon of black pepper powder, and then add 3 tablespoons of curd. Then you can even chop 2 to 3 tablespoons of curry leaves and give it a little mix.
Then add 1 tablespoon of oil, and thoroughly and adequately mix everything that the chicken pieces should be covered completely. Set the mixture aside in the freezer for 1 to 2 hours when you are done. This time is long enough to make it the perfect marination.
Step 2
The next step is to make the chicken Chettinad masala. You need certain ingredients and follow the exact steps for making this Chettinad chicken masala.
For this step, you need a non-stick pan to add 1 teaspoon of cumin seed, 1 teaspoon of fennel seed, and 1 tablespoon of coriander seed. You also require 2 to 3 dried red chili, 3 or 4 cloves, 3 or 4 cardamoms, and 1-inch cinnamon.
The objective is to dry roast these in low heat for approximately 1 min. Around this time, you should be getting a beautiful flavorous smell, and this is when you should add one tablespoon of a poppy seed.
Step 3
Immediately start mixing everything in the pan, and the poppy seed will begin cooking. Do it until the poppy seeds are slightly brown, and don’t overdo it as it will overcook, and the poppy seeds will burn. Finally, add 4 to 5 tablespoons of ground coconut and mix everything on low flame for 1 to 2 minutes.
Then cool down the Chettinad masala, put it in a mixer grinder, and add 3 to 4 tablespoons of water. This water helps in making the mixture into a perfect paste masala. On the other side, make tomato puree by grinding 3 or 4 medium-sized tomatoes with a little water.
Step 4
After all those steps, now we can finally enter the last part. Add 4 to 5 tablespoons of oil to medium heat. Add 3 or 4 cloves and 1 small bay leaf and add 3 medium chopped onion and sauté in medium flame.
Next, add 2 green chilies, and add the marinated chicken. Cook it for 4-5 minutes on medium heat. Then add the tomato puree, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/8 teaspoon turmeric powder, and 1 tablespoon salt.
Add little water and cook everything for 4-5 minutes in medium flames. When the gravy thickens, add the Chettinad masala, mix it for 3-4 minutes, and add fresh curry leaves. Now your dish is ready to enjoy.
Other Chettinad recipes
Tamilnadu has delicious seafood recipes like fish curry, crab curry, or prawn masala. But the Chettinad chicken is so unique that people should try making and having it.
Chettinad cuisine is full of delicious foods like crab dishes, chicken, prawns, fish, and different vegetables. There are also various kinds of rice-based food in this cuisine. One big thing is the Chettinad chicken made of various spices, vegetables, and chicken.
In this region of India, they love using spices like tamarind, turmeric, cumin, fenugreek, clove, bay leaves, and many more. The spices used in Chettinad cuisine are usually sun-dried to help hold and preserve their nutritional values.
The Chettinad chicken is one of the most famous dishes in India, and people prefer to have it with something rather than by itself. So, steamed rice or rice-based foods like Uppams, Dosas, and Idlis are perfect with this recipe.
Final thoughts
The culture of Tamilnadu, especially in Chettinad, is unique. Their traditional food culture is essentially great for both vegetarian and non-vegetarians. In vegetarian options, they have a lot of delicious dishes like Payasam, which is a dessert made of milk. They also have mushroom recipes, Palkatti, Urlai roast, cabbage Poriyal, etc.
Their non-vegetarian diet consists of seafood as they are close to sea proximity. So they have dishes like fish curry, crab, and prawn masala. They also have other animals like rabbits, jungle fowl, quail, and turkey. But the finest and most delicious non-vegetarian food like the famous Chettinad chicken Kulambu which everyone should try. This recipe is like the signature dish of Chettinad as it is full of flavor and taste.
barua 
Varsha