Quick Chicken Chettinad

December 24, 2019 Vasundhara Jhunjhunwala

Follow this recipe for this restaurant worthy, super quick, HOMEMADE Chicken Chettinad dish. It is a sure shot crowd pleaser and is super quick and easy.

Old Fashioned Gourmet makes fantastic Curry-in-a-hurry blends. These blends are inspired by the paucity of time in today's day and age. They have been curated from Heirloom recipes for various vegetables and meats to suit individual flavor bringing the exact flavor every time to create a winner dish consistently saving you time and effort. The spices are sundried, hand sorted, individually roasted and then pounded to perfection. We use Premium spices some of which are even ancient ones, no longer commonly used like Long peppers, stone flower etc.

Chettinadu masala is one of our most unique blends. We have painstakingly curated this recipe after rigorous research and many many recipe trials. Lots of my friends and family were involved in the process. I deeply appreciate their opinion and critique.

It seems super quick once you see the outcome, seems almost like from a restaurant.

We have posted an IGTV video on our Instagram page as well.

Chicken Chettinad

For the Spice and coconut mixture:

2 tbsp coconut oil
2 dry red chillies for tadka
1 Bay leaf
1 tbsp jeera
1 slit long green chilli
4 chopped onions
3 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
1/2 cup or 50 grams of grated coconut(remove the outer brown skin)

For the Chicken Chettinadu:

4 tbsp coconut oil
50 grams chopped onions
10 to 15 curry leaves
500 grams Chicken
1 tsp Pink Himalayan salt
1.5 tbsp pepper powder
4 tbsp OFG's Chettinadu chicken masala

Method Coconut Masala

Heat some oil in a pan.
Add tadka of dry red chilli & bay leaf
Add curry leaves & green chillies for extra heat.
Add the onions and saute until soft and transparent.
Finally, add in the coconut and saute until coconut is fragrant and brown.
Remove the red chilles and bay leaf for now.
Transfer & cool the coconut and spice mix.
Take 3/4 of the masala and grind to paste. Keep rest aside.
Blend all the ingredients until a smooth and thick paste. can add warm water.
Keep the ground masala aside.

Step 2:
Chicken Chettinadu:

Add balance unground Onion Coconut masala in a hot pan.
Add in the chicken pieces, some salt and, saute the chicken till it starts to brown.
Add the ground masala paste.
Add OFGs Chettinadu Masala & Cook for 2-5 minutes.
Keep the pan uncovered and let the chicken cook on medium-high heat until the Masala looks lustrous. Mix the chicken every now and then to avoid scorching at the bottom of the pan.
Once the masala looks cooked, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook until the oil separates on the sides and the chicken is well cooked with roasted marks.
Add 2 tbsp of Ghee in the end for added lustre.
Add fried Cashews for the extra oomph factor.

Serve with Dosa, Neer Dosa, Rice or as a snack.

Can substitute Chicken with Aaloo, Paneer, Mushroom or Prawn/Lamb.

If you have read our other blog, Mangalore chicken sukke, you may realise that the basic steps for both the recipes are the same. Just the Curry-in-a-hurry masalas added in the end are different. So in case you are planning to make a bigger menu, you can make extra coconut onion paste and add different masala for different dishes using different main ingredient. For example you can use chicken or paneer for the Chicken Chettinaad recipe using the Bharwan masala and Prawn or Aaloo for the Chicken Sukke using the Aaloo Dum Masala and Mangalore Ghee Roast Masala.

Do post us pictures of your version of this fabulous dish and tag us on Instagram or Facebook.

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