Chicken Kuzhambhu-Restaurent style

Ingredients:

For Paste:
• 6 nos Dry red chili
• 2 tbsp Coriander Seeds
• 1 tsp Raw rice
• 1 tsp Black pepper corns
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• ½ tsp Fennel Seeds
• 1 tsp Poppy Seeds
• 1 tsp Split roasted grams(pottukadalai)
• 1 no Cinnamon (1/2 ” stick)
• 2 nos Cloves
• 1 no Cardamon
• 1 tsp Dry coconut flakes

Kuzhambhu:

• 2 nos Onions (finely chopped)
• 1 no Tomato (chopped)
• 1 no Green chili (finely chopped)
• 4 clove Garlic (crushed)
• 1 inch Ginger (crushed)
• 1 no Cornish hen (or use 1 pound regular chicken)
• ½ tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Fresh ground coconut paste (diluted with water)
• 2 no Bay leaf (small)
• 2 no Dry red chili (for tempering)
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 4 tbsp Oil (sesame oil preferred)
• 1½ tsp Salt (or to taste)
• 2 stks Coriander leaves (chopped for garnishing)
• 10 nos Curry leaves

Method:

Masala Paste :
• Dry roast all the ingredients from table-1 (Dry red chili + coriander seeds+ raw rice + black pepper corns + cumin seeds + fennel seeds + poppy seeds + split roasted gram + cinnamon + cloves + cardamon + coconut flakes ) until slightly brown. Switch off and cool completely. Grind to powder and keep aside.

Kuzhambu :

• Heat sesame oil and toast bay leaf, curry leaves and splutter mustard. Now add chopped onions, green chilis, crushed ginger and garlic. Fry them for 5 minutes or until slightly browned.
• Now add the tomatoes and cook for a minute, add the cut chicken pieces, cover with a lid and cook further for 3 minutes.
• When the meat turns all white, add the turmeric powder, our ground masala powder and saute.
• Fry till the masala browns well, add salt and keep frying (definitely requires some scraping as the masala will be become very sticky at this point).
• Now add 1 cup of water and ground coconut paste, cover with lid, bring the flame to low.
• Let it simmer for another 5 to 8 minutes, the oil should separate as the kuzhambu boils. Garnish with coriander.
• Serve Hot with Rice.