Mangalorean Chicken Curry

Bangalore,my beloved city,my home.What I am today is thanks to all the facilities that Bangalore offered me.This post is dedicated to all the wonderful Kannadigas throughout the world,who are the most warm and generous of people.Celebrating the Regional Cuisines of India,is an excellent blog event initiated by Lakshmi K and this recipe goes to Asha who is the hostess for this month's RCI - Karnataka.

The preparation method of this Mangalorean curry has a lot of similarities with Kerala style of cooking a dish called varutharacha curry,wherein coconut is fried along with spices and then ground to a smooth paste.So I assumed that the taste of this curry would be almost similar to varutharacha curry.But,I was so wrong.

When I tasted it,it had a totally different flavour.I loved the taste,the smooth texture,but what gave it that flavour I didnt know.Then, I remembered the 1tbsp poppy seeds that I had added and the poppy seeds gave the curry a completely different taste.I have only used poppy seeds once and that was for making Indira's Bobbatlu.So was not very familiar with its flavour.And now that I have tasted,I would like to tell you that if you haven't used poppy seeds,may be you should.It was a delicious curry,tastes very restaurant-like and I personally loved it with chapati than rice.It had a nice brown colour and with time I found the colour getting deeper.

Recipe Source:Mrs.Lekshmi Nair

Ingredients

Whole Chicken - 1.125kg
Turmeric powder - 1/4tsp
Chilli powder - 1&1/2tbsp
Coriander powder - 1tbsp
Onion (medium,chopped) - 2(210g)
Tomato (medium,chopped) - 2
Coconut oil - 1&1/2tbsp
Salt - to taste

Coconut(grated) - 1cup
Garlic(sliced) - 2tbsp
Coconut oil - 1/2tsp
Black Peppercorns - 1tbsp
Cinnamon - 2" piece
Cardamom & Cloves - 3,each
Cumin seeds - 1/2tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4tsp
Poppy seeds (khus khus) - 1tbsp
Onion (big,sliced) - 1(150g)

Method

1.Cut the chicken into small pieces and marinate it with turmeric powder

2.Deep fry the sliced onion till light brown,drain & keep aside.

3.Heat a pan to high, toast coconut for a minute or so and then add garlic and 1/2tsp coconut oil and continue to fry
4.Add the peppercorns and saute till coconut turns light brown
5.Lower heat,add the cinnamon,cardamom,cloves,fenugreek seeds,cumin seeds and fry
6.Add the poppy seeds and fry for a few seconds,turn off the heat and add the chilli powder and coriander powder and combine well
7.Allow to cool and grind along with the deep fried onion to a smooth paste using water

8.Heat 1&1/2tbsp coconut oil,saute the chopped onions till light brown
9.Add the chicken pieces and saute for 5min
10,Add the ground paste, tomatoes and salt
11.Add just enough water to slightly dilute the curry
12.Cover and cook
13.Goes well with plain rice,ghee rice,chapati,naan,parotta,appam

Read Mr.Abraham Tharakan's Bangalore memories and have a look at the pictures of Bangalore 60 years back.