Kovaikkai/Tindora Chutney

Kovaikkai , I was not so fond of this vegetable or have cooked with it for a long time.My mom on her last visit here, introduced this vegetable to me.She made kovaikkai fry with just red chilli & turmeric powder.Then I tried making the same fry along with potato.And it became staple at home when ever I amke more kuzhambu.Finally (after nearly 5+ years) I was brave enough to try a new one, Spicy chutney made with Kovaikkai .Came out really well and I am set for the next five years :D

What you need
Kovakkai/Tindora - 1 cup (cut)
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Channa dal - 1/2 tsp
Coconut - 1/4 cup (shredded)
Tamarind - a very small gooseberry size
Red chillies - 6
Garlic - 2 pods
Oil - 2tbsp
Curry leaves - a few
Salt - as needed
Water - if needed when you grind
How you will make

Heat oil in a pan in medium heat and then add urad dal, channa dal , fry until almost golden. Now add garlic, red chillies, curry leaves one after another .Fry for 2 minutes and add cut tindora now.Fry on medium flow until they are almost cooked.Finally add tamarind, coconut and salt. Saute until coconut changes into light brown colour. Switch off the heat and let this mixture cool.
Once it is cooled, grind this into a chutney.

NOTE : Saute Tindora on medium flame only. As tindora takes time to cook and you don't want rest of the ingredients to burn out. If you want you could saute just Tindora in a separate pan and grind it along with other fried ingredients.I had served it with Instant Ragi Dosa. Will post that recipe soon.

Egg Banarasi

Egg Banarasi,this is derived from Aloo Dum Banarasi recipe.

What you need
Egg - 5 (hard boiled)
Onion - 1 (big,sliced thin)
Tomato -1 ( chopped fine)
Green chillies - 2-3 (chopped fine, optional)
Garlic - 5 pods (minced)
Garam masala - Whole or powder (1tsp)
Red chilli powder - 3 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Butter - 1 tbsp
Cashew nuts - 8-10
Mint/Coriander leaves - for garnish (optional)
Salt - as needed
Oil - 2 tbsp
Water - as needed


How you will make 
First and for most ,
1.Make a paste of cashew nuts with few tsp of water.
2.Hard boil 5 eggs and peel the hard skin.In a bowl add eggs, a few pinches of turmic powder and salt.
Slightly roast these  eggs in a tsp of oil.Make sure you don't burn the outer skin of the egg.Just roast it lightly.Keep them aside.
In a heavy bottomed pan , heat oil and add whole garam masala.Once that's fried add minced garlic and chopped onion (in that order).Once onion is golden brown add chopped tomatoes.Cook until tomatoes are well cooked and mashed up.Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder ,coriander powder and salt to the pan and saute until raw smell is gone.Add just enough water to the pan and bring it to a boil.Now reduce flame to medium and cashew nut paste.Cook until gravy thickens just enough.Now add the roasted eggs to this gravy.Let it sit for another 2-3 minutes.Finally add chopped green chillies and 1 tbsp butter.Keep this gravy in medium flame for another 3-4 minutes.That's it rich flavourful gravy is ready , garnish with chopped mint/coriander leaves.

Serve with rice/roti.

Note : I am thinking of making this dish next time with tomato paste and onion paste instead of chopped to get a smooth gravy.

Chicken Tawa Roast

Again a delicious recipe from Chef Damu.A simple chicken fry with all deliciousness of deep fried chicken but will less oil.I have already made this three times in two weeks :) .Hope you enjoy as much as we did.
Note : Try the same with boneless pices to serve as appetizers.

What you need
Chicken - 1 whole chicken (cut in small pieces)
GingerGarlic paste - 2 tbsp
Red Chilli powder - 3 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Cashew nuts - 8-10
Yougurt -  2tbsp
Mint Leaves - 1/4 cup chopped
Curry leaves - a few
Salt - as needed
Oil - 4 tbsp

How you will make it
Marinate chicken pieces with all ingredients except for oil for about 30 minutes.
In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil on medium high heat.Once oil heated enough, pour in the marinated chicken pieces.Cook it on medium high heat until chicken is cooked well and turns into a dry roast.Color of the dish should as seen in the picture for better taste :)

Pepper Chicken Kuzhambu

Pepper Chicken Kuzhambu , a chicken dish made using sambhar powder.Yes, that's correct sambhar powder.I got this recipe (again) through a TV show and got curious to use sambhar powder on chicken dish which I have never done before.This dish came out really well :)

What you need
Chicken - 1 whole chicken cut in small pieces
Onion - 1 big onion (chopped)
Tomato -  2 small (chopped)
Pepper powder - 2tsp
Ginger Garlic powder  - 2 tbsp
Sambar powder - 2 1/2 tsp
Jeera powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala powder  - 2 tsp
Salt - as needed
Oil - 2 tbsp
Curry Leaves  - a few
To grind the ingredients listed below into a fine paste
Coconut - 3tbsp
Tomato - 1 small
Green chillies - 2
How you will make
In a pan, heat oil on medium and add chopped onions and fry until they are soft.Now add garama masala, curry leaves,chopped tomatoes and slit green chillies (optional) and saute till they are soft.Now add GG paste and fry until raw smell is gone.Now add sambar powder , salt and saute for few more minutes.Add grinded coconut paste and let it boil until you can see the oil on the edges.Now add chicken pieces (and salt if needed).Add just enough water to this gravy and let the chicken pieces cook.Finally when the gravy gets to proper consistency and chicken is cooked, add the pepper powder and jeera powder.Let this sit on medium flame for another 4-5 minutes and switch off the flame.Serve hot with rice/roti.

Simple Spicy Chicken Fry

The what
Chicken -  2lbs ( cut in small pieces)
Red chilli powder  - 2 tbsp
Salt -  to taste
Oil - 3 tbsp
Perunjeeragam - 2 tsp ( slightly crushed)
Curry leaves - a few

The how
For this recipe ,I have used boneless chicken, with bones will actually taste better.And I had made this extremly spicy, so please choose red chilli powder as per your tolerence.Heat oil in a pan on medium high heat, quickly splutter perumjeeragam and curry leaves.Before it turns all black on you , add the chicken pieces and saute for a min or two.Now add red chilli powder and salt .Keep sauting on medium high flame for about 5-6 minutes.Once you see that all pieces are getting bit darker in the outside, reduce the flame to medium low.Keep sauting untill chicken is well cooked and looks similar to what's in the picture.Serve it as appetizer, or a side dish, your wish.
This dish requires more than expected oil , so be little generous with it. But hey , you can be happy that you are not deep frying ! ;)

Channa Paneer Masala

Again a recipe from a cooking show. I was interested to try this one out mainly because of the combo, Channa & Paneer. I had never tried putting these two together. It came out really good.

What you will need 

Channa - 1 can 16 oz (drained & rinsed)
Paneer -  6 oz (about 10 1" pieces)
Onion - 1 large ( finely chopped)
Tomato - 2 medium ( finely chopped)
Green Chillies - 2 ( finely chopped)
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
Kasuri methi - 2 tsp
Salt - as needed
Water - 1/2 cup or more

How you will make it

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan and fry paneer pieces until the outer skin slightly changes color.Take them out and keep aside.Now in the same pan add another tbsp of oil and fry jeera. Now add finely chopped onion,green chillies and once the onions are half way cooked add  GG pase. And fry until onions are golden brown in color and raw smell from GG is gone.This might take more than 5-7 minutes on medium high flame.Now add chopped tomatoes and saute until tomatoes are soft and almost cooked.Now add all the masala powders, turmeric,red chilli and dania powders.Saute well untill everything comes together and  raw smell is gone.If needed add little of water while sauteing to avoid buring .Once the masala is almost cooked enough, add the rinsed channa and salt.At this point add 1/4 cup water and let the channa gravy boil well for about 4-5 minutes.Now reduce the heat to medium low and add fried paneer pieces.Let the gravy boil for another 2-3 minutes and switch off the heat.Now sprinkle crushed kasurimethi and serve hot with roti/rice.

Kerala Style Egg Curry w/ Coconut milk

Kerala style egg curry made with coconut milk , one of the staple @ my kitchen when I crave for something simple  and comfort.I tend to make these little spicer and it compliments the sweetness of the coconut milk.This is an adapted version Mrs.K.M.Mathew's recipe.

What you will need

Hard boiled eggs- 6 nos
 

Onion -3 medium sized (sliced)
 

Ginger -  2 tsp (chopped fine)
 

Garlic - 2 tsp (chopped fine)

Green Chillies  - 2 (slit lengthwise)

Curry leaves- a few
 

Coconut milk- I used 1/4 cup of a canned coconut milk

( I had diluted 1/4 cup of coconut milk with 1cup water)

Water-1/4 cup 

Oil -2 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Salt - to taste

For masala

Red chili powder-  2 tsp( or according to taste)
Coriander powder-1 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

How you will make 

Mix all the ingredients for masala with just enough water to make a smooth paste.Keep aside.Make small slits in the hard boiled eggs and sprinkle pinches of red chilli powder,turmeric powder and salt.Using your hands apply these powders evenly on the eggs.In a pan, heat oil on medium low heat.Keeping the heat low, fry the eggs until the ouer skin changes the color just enough.Take the eggs out and keep it aside.We will put these fried eggs at the end.

Now in the same pan (put the heat on medium high now), splutter mustard seeds.Add curry leaves, green chillies and the sliced onions.Saute them until onions are soft enough.Now add the chopped ginger and garlic.Saute this well until onions are almost carmalized.Takes about 15 minutes or so.Now add the masala paste and saute until raw smell is gone.Once nice aroma comes add 1/4 cup(or more) of water and salt and let this mix boil for another 5 minutes.Add the diluted coconut milk at this point and let the gravy boil well.Once the gravy gets appropriate consistency, add the fried eggs and let it boil for 4-5 minutes on medium low heat.Serve hot with Rice/Roti.

Note : I like to make this curry a little early than expected dinner time, to allow the gravy seep into the egg through the slits made.YUM.

Kadalai Maavu Masala

This quick and simple recipe  is from a TV show.I was skeptical at first trying this one , but the chef repeatedly claimed this will taste just like our Potato Masala (the one we make for Poori/Chappathi).Amazingly he was right.We liked this healthier version with out potato .
P.S : Sorry for the Not -so- good picture .I blame my camera being out of charge and had to use iPhone.

What you will need
Onion  - 1 medium sized (chopped)
Tomatoes - 2 (chopped)
Green chillies - 1-2 (slit lengthwise)
Chilli powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves -  as needed
Asafoetida - a pinch
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Channa Dal - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/4 tsp
Salt -  to taste
Kadalai maavu / Gram flour  - 2 tsp
Water  - as needed
Note : Adjust green chilli and chilli powder according to your spice level.

How you will make
In a medium low heat ,heat oil in the pan and splutter mustard seeds and add ural dal, channa dal,fry until dal is golden.Now add curry leaves , green chillies and Onion.Fry until onions are almost soft and now add chopped tomatoes.Saute for a minute and  add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and asafoetida.In medium heat , add little water and let this cook until tomatoes are very soft. In the mean time make the gram flour mix by adding 1/4 cup water to 2 tsp gram flour.Mix it well so there is no lumps.Now once tomoatoes are cooked , add this gram flour mix, salt and let this boil in medium heat until everything comes together in to a thick gravy.Serve hot with Roti.
Note : Be sure to maintain Medium heat through out cooking.

Urulai Kozhi Kulambu /Chicken Curry with Potatoes

What you will need
Chicken - 1 whole chicken ( small pieces)
Potatoes - 3-4 ( cut in small pieces)
Onion  - 1 large
Small onions -  10 ( grind it into a paste)
Tomatoes - 2 (chopped)
Green chillies - 2-3 (slit lengthwise)
Ginger Garlic paste - 2 tbsp ( I use coarse paste)
Chilli powder - 2tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp( optional)
Dania/Coriander powder - 1 1/2tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Garam masala - 1tsp ( You can use either powder or whole , I prefer powder)
Curry leaves -  as needed
Oil - 3 tbsp
Salt -  to taste
How you will make
Heat oil in a pan and add  onions and fry for few minutes.Now add onion paste ,ginger garlic  paste and fry until raw smell is gone.Add curry leaves, green chillies to this and saute.Now add choppe dtomatoes and cook until tomatoes are well cooked and soften.Add all spice powders at this point and saute well until raw smell is gone.Add chicken pieces and salt and saute on high flame for 3-4 minutes.Now reduce the heat to medium and add chopped potatoes.Mix everything well at this point.
Add pepper powder and just enough water and cook this covered for next 7-10 minutes.Once chicken and potatoes are well cooked, remove the cover and let the gravy boil a little until everything comes together.Serve is hot with rice or roti.
Recipe Source : Recipe  adapted from a cooking show .

Kathirikkai (podi ) varuval

Kathirikkai/Brinjal , one of my most fav vegetable after Vendaikkai.I usually tend to stick with traditional recipes when I have them.So my usual Kathirikkai poriyal will have spices like red chiili powder , turmeric powder only.So wanted to try something different yet doesn't taste much different from what I usually make.Came up with this one.Podi gives this dish that special aroma n taste that the normal kathirikkai poriyal won't have!
Planning to use this spice powder for other vegetable dishes as well in the future.

You will need
Brinjal/Kathirikkai - 2 cups ( cubed)
Curry Leaves - as needed
Oil - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Water - to sprinkle
Salt - as needed
For Podi
Oil - 2 tsp
Channa dal - 2tsp
Dania - 1 tsp
Red chillies - 5 to 6
Coconut - 2 tbsp (shredded) (optional)
Curry leaves - few

How you will make it

In pan, add 2 tsp of oil and fry ingredients listed under 'For Podi' until golden brown and let it cool.
Then grind it into a coarse powder. Now heat 2 tbsp of oil and fry mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.Now add brijal pieces to this and saute on medium low flame.Add turmeric and salt to this and cook until they almost cooked.Sprinkle water in between if necessary.Finally add the powdered mixture and mix them all together carefully.Careful not to over cook them and mush the brinjal pieces.Serve them along with Rice and Dal.

Fish Roast - recreated!

I have been looking to recreate a fish roast I had during my last trip to Kerala.We had taken a backwaters trip and they had a floating small "thattu kada" style in the middle of the lake.Our guide and boat driver were raving about this restuarent and I was getting more n more excited as we got closer.I am looking everywhere and didn't find any "big" restuarent fgloating near by.Finally the driver pointed out to a small shack . The ambience was so bad , I was relunctant at first.But we had no choice to order something then there otherwise we would be starving  for the next 1 hour.Finally we decided to order, the owner came to our boat with a basket of fresh fish.I ordered Fish Masala roast from the menu while rest of family ordered different things from the menu.
This Fish roast was so good that my parents left their ordered stuff untouched and ordered 3 more plates of Fish roast.As my father quoted " I have never been a fan of fish until I had this dish.I can't believe I missed this nearby place for so long" .
So to cut the story short, I have been looking to recreate that dish and was looking around in the blogosphere.Finally got somewhat similar one here .Though this is not a exact replica, it came very close when it comes to taste.The main difference being, the original dish never had fried fish in it.
Give it a try...May be this will be that perfect fish dish that you have been looking for.

Vendaikkai vatha kulambu

You will need
Vendaikkai/Lady finger - 10 ( cut into 1 inch pieces)
Small onions - 5-6 ( chopped lengthwise)
Garlic - 5-6 cloves
Tamarind - 1 big lemon sized ball
Sambhar powder - 2 tbsp
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Oil - 3 tbsp
Red chillies -  3-4
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Channa dal - 1 tsp
Vendhayam/Fenu greek seeds - 1/2tsp
Curry leaves -   few springs
Salt - as needed
Water - as needed
Rice flour - 2 tsp ( optional)
Sarkkarai/Jaggery - 1 tsp (optional)

How you will make it
In a pan heat 2 tbsp of oil and saute vendaikkai pieces for a few minutes.This is to avoid curry becoming sticky.Saute the vendaikkai well, but make sure the color is not chnaged.Take them out and keep in a paper towel, let the oil drain. In the sam epan, add 1 tsp of oil and heat.Add mustard seeds, channa dal, vendhayam and fry until channa dal is golden brown.Now add curry leaves and red chillies.Saute for a few seconds and add sliced onions, garlic and saute until those are soft.Add fried vendaikkai and add sambhar powder , fry for 1 minute.Add tamarind pulp, needed water and salt.Let this boil until vendaikkai is fully cooked and sauce gets thicker.Now add a pinch of asafoedita and cook for few more minutes.Once you feel you got the correct consistency for the sauce, switch off the heat.Serve hot with rice.
Note : If you have trouble getting the right consistency, mix 2 tsp of rice flour in to 1/4 cup of hot water and add this into the boiling mixture.
Adding sarkkarai at the end of the cooking, gives that extra authentic taste.

Nethili meen curry

You will need

Nethili meen ( anchovies) - about 20 

Coocnut milk - 1/2 can of

Onion -2 medium sized, chopped 

Tomoato - 3 ( grinded)

Green chillies - 2 (slit lengthwise)

Redchilli powder - 2tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Ginger Garlic paster - 2tsp

Mustard seeds- 1tsp

Fenugreek seeds - 1tsp

Fennel seeds - 1tsp

Tamarind - 1 lemon sized

Oil - 3-4 tbsp

Salt - as needed

Curry leaves - few springs

How you will make

In a pan heat oil on medium high heat and splutter mustard seeds.Now add fennel, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and green chillies.Fry for a few seconds and add chopped onions.Fry until onions are 3/4 cooked, Now add turmeric powder,red chilli powder and ginger garlic paste.Saute until raw smell is gone and add grounded tomato to this.Cook until all comes together and then add the tamarind pulp & salt to this mix.Boil the gravy until raw smell is gone and all ingredients starting to come together.

Now reduce the heat to medium,  add diluted coconut milk to this gravy.Boil for another 3-4 minutes.

Now add the fish pieces and cook them without disturbing the gravy.It won't take much time to cook small fish like anchovies.So keep the gravy on medium heat and cook for another 10 minutes and switch off.Serve hot with

Note : Adding coconut milk to this gravy is optional.I added it for traditional taste.Add coconut oil instead of vegetable oil to have that extra kick.

Uzhundan Choru (Urad dal Rice)

This is one of Sunday Staple at Mom's.I just adore this dish and now my kids love it.
Made with Black Urad dal and Rice and very few ingredients to kick it up a notch.

You will need

Rice  - 3/4 cup
Black Urad dal - 1/4 cup ( You need black urad dal.Don't substitute this with any other urad dal)
Salt - as needed
Garlic - 1 clove ( finely chopped)
Fenugreek seeds ( Vendhyam) - 1/4 tsp
Coconut - 2 tbsp (shredded) (optional)
Water - 2 cups

How you will make :
Wash rice and urad dal and keep in aside.In a pressure cooker (or rice cooker) , add rice, urad dal, fenugreek seeds, garlic, coconut, salt and add 2 cups of water.Adding water depending the type of white rice you are using, so add it it accordingly.Cook the rice mixture like the same way you cook white rice.(pressure cooker - 3 whistles).That's it, it is ready to serve.
We serve 'uzhundan choru' with cocnut or coriander chutney, theeyal or with egg curry as seen in the picture below.

Savory/Kara Kozhukattai

One of my most favourite snack (well..I can eat this as breakfast.lunch /dinner etc) and hoping it is Ganesh's too..

Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi

You need
Rice flour - 2cups(dry roasted)
Boiled water-as needed
Coconut-1/2 cup(optional)
For tadka
Oil-2 tspn
Mutatrd,curry leaves(chopped),red chillies(break into small pieces),urad dal

How you will make
In a pan,heat oil and fry the tadka ingredients and keep aside.After dry roasting the rice flour, add salt and boiled water.Slowly mix the water and make a dough.(just like u do for Idiyappam).Mix the tadka with the dough and make into small bitesize balls.Spray the cooking spray in the idly pan and wipe it off with a paper towel.(for avoiding sticking)Place this balls into the idly pan and steam cook it for about 7-10 min.s.If you like you can serve it as it is or mix it with fresh shredded coconut. To make it more spicy, you can mix idly podi into steamed kozhukattai.

More Kazhi Urundai

A traditional snack/breakfast item , been there for ages. You might have or should have come across this at some point in you life.If not, it's high time to try this one.

You will need

Rice Flour - 1 cup (I used Sambha rice flour thus the color)

Yogurt - 3 tbsp (make sure it is fresh)

Mustard seeds -  1/4 tsp

Dry Red chillies - 2

Curry leaves - 2

Oil -  2 - 3 tbsp

Salt - as needed

Water - to sprinkle

Idli Podi - to serve

How you will make

Heat oil in the pan on medium heat and splutter mustard seeds.Once that's done, add red chillies, curry leaves.Fry for few seconds and add rice flour and saute them.Add salt as needed now.Once everything is mixed well, switch off the heat and add 3tbsp yougurt to this rice mixture.Mix well and start making small balls out of it. Note: sprinkle just enough water if flour mix looks too dry to make balls. Once urundai (balls) are made steam cook them for about 10 minutes.Serve them hot with idli podi. In my experience these are best served right away  as these tend to get a harder layer if kept for too long.

Note :I had chopped curry leaves as well, so that it is hard to throw away and kids will eat it hidden inside the urundai.

Thankful for....

A thankful list to mark the year end, 

1. Kids...That too happy ones (well most of the time) ..ever thankful.
2. Family – You know who you are, especially thankful for finishing up a conversation with me in person/phone ;)
3. Friends – Again encouraging /commenting whenever needed.
4. Skype – Feels I am never far way from Mom.
5. Job – and that too an exciting one.
6. My Kitchen – a perfect one, to show off my rage/happy moods.
7. People – Mostly whom I meet on daily basis, an INSPIRATION!
8. TV/Movies –for helping forget my dull moments.
9. Father in Law – Most amazing optimistic person I have met. Help me grow as an individual. Missing you.
10. Though we had our share of similar & opposite opinions, am thankful for the one who encourages and keeps me going, Picks me up   when I fall (which is quite often) -Dear Husband.

Meen Thoran /Poriyal

Meenu thoran/poriyal , another delicacy from Amma .I made this with tilapia fillets  from costco.
This is easy one and goes well with any hot gravy.We had this with vatha kuzambu.

Ingredients
=======

Tilapia - 5 fillets
Ginger/Garlic/Green chilli - 2 tbsp minced
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt - as needed
Oil - 2 tbsp
Onion -  1 small (finely chopped)
Coconut - 1/4 cup shredded (adjust according to your taste).
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Method
=======

Boil Tilapia fillets with enough water, salt and turmeric.This gets cooked very fast, so as soon as it is cooked, drain the water and switch them to another vessel.Make sure there is no water retained.With a fork, slightly pull the fish fillets apart ,  making it into tiny pieces .

We need about 2 tbsp ginger/garlic/green chilli mixture minced (not a paste). YOu might need about a 1/2 inch piece of ginger, 3 cloves of garlic and about 3-4 green chillies.Increase the no.of green chillies if you like it spicy.

Now, take another pan and heat oil in a medium low heat.Once oil hot, splutter mustard seeds, add curry leaves and onion.Once onions are golden brown, add the minced g/g/g mixture and fry until raw smell is gone.Now add the fish pieces, add salt, turmeric as needed now and slowly mix .Be careful not to mush it.

After few minutes in medium low heat, add coconut to the fish mixture and turn the heat to medium high.
Constantly stir and cook for another 5 minutes .Serve it with rice & any kuzhambu.

Chicken Ularthiyadhu / Kerala Chicken Fry

This is yet another lip smacking chicken fry that I usually make if I want to impress !Got it via a Malayalam cookery show. The best part of the dish for me is to eat the last part of the dish left after all the big pieces of chicken is gone! You will understand what I am talking about when you finish cooking.

Ingredients

=========

Chicken - 1 whole chicken (cut into small pieces)

Onion - 2 medium sized( sliced length wise)

Green chillies - 4-5 

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Garlic - 4-5 cloves

Whole black peppercorns - 2tbsp

Red chilli powder - 2tsp

Daniya powder - 2tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Coconut - 1/2 cup (shredded) (the more the merrier)

Curry leaves - quite a few

Whole garam masala - 1 piece cinnamon, 2 cardamom, 2 cloves , 1tsp perunjeerakam

Oil - 4 tbsp

Salt - as needed

Note : I made this one extra spicy (as usual) to go with a bland dal :)

And even 2-3 tsp of aacchi red chilli powder goes a long way.

Method

=======

Clean and marinate the chicken pieces with red chilli, daniya, turmeric  and salt for about 20-30 minutes.

Add ginger, garlic , green chilli, pepper corns, whole garam masalas and few curry leaves in a chopped/mixie and give it a quick pulse.The point is not to make it a paste.Give it just a quick grind, so we can see few pieces of ginger/garlic/pepper etc. The main recipe calls for us to add coconut and onion slices to ginger garlic pepper  when grinding.I didn't do it as 1) my coconut were very thinly shredded and 2) I am always afraid of grinding raw onion even if it  is for a quick pulse. 

Now, add the ginger garlic pepper mix, coconut, onion into a bowl and mix is very well with your clean hands.Make sure you break few of the onion slices to bring out the juice.Now add this mixture into marinated chicken and mix well.

Add oil into a heavy bottomed pan placed in medium high heat.Add this chicken mixture and few curry leaves into the pan and cover n cook for about 5-6 minutes.Once you see chicken is releasing water, remove the lid and let is cook on medium high heat.Try to break the chicken pieces, this makes this dish extra special.This dish is very dry, so keep cooking until all the water is evaporated from the dish.I usually cook it on high heat for last few minutes.It should look like the same in the picture.

Do not forget to eat the last part :)

We had this with roti  and dal.

Kodi Kura - Chicken Roast (Andhra style)

This recipe I got off from a TV show and came out delicious.Very easy to make and to top it all it's a one pot dish.What more do you want? .I have tried mutton version of this and will post that later.

Ingredients
------------
Chicken -  1 whole chicken (cut into small pieces)
Onion - 2 Onions(sliced and then cut across)
Tomato - 3 (medium sized, chopped)
Green chillies - 6-8 (slit across)
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 2 tbsp
Daniya/Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as needed
Oil -4 tbsp
Curry leaves - a lot (atleast 2 springs)

Method
--------
Clean the chicken and try not to leave any water behind after you clean.Mix all the ingredients except for oil in a pan with your hand.Make sure to mash some of the tomato pieces, green chillies. Do not add any water.
If you want and have time, leave this mixture for abt 15- 30 minutes to marinate.I didn't do it, but it came out very tasty.

Start cooking the chicken mixture in a medium low flame with lid covered for about 5-8 minutes.And when you see water is coming out of the chicken, remove the lid and start cooking.Once you see enough gravy is in the dish, increase the flame and keep stirring the dish to avoid burning.Once the dish is almost dry, add 4 tbsp of oil and keep roasting the dish without burning.When it reaches roast consitency, swich off the heat and garnish with more curry leaves.Serve with Roti or rice/dal.

Note : I made it very spicy, please adjust your spice as per your taste.

Before

After

Sorry for the bad picture..too lazy to get the camera and used my phone instead...