Chicken Curry Recipe

Chicken Curry Recipe :

Ingredients :

1 large onion

6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

50g ginger, roughly chopped

4 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seed

5cm cinnamon stick

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp caster sugar

400g can chopped tomatoes

8 chicken thighs, skinned, boneless (about 800g)

250ml hot chicken stock

2 tbsp chopped coriander

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Adding a dash of water while blitzing the onion, garlic and ginger saves on chopping time and helps thicken the masala as it cooks.
Method

Roughly chop the onion, transfer to a small food processor, and add 3 tablespoons of water - process to a slack paste. You could use a stick blender for this or coarsely grate the onion into a bowl – there’s no need to add any water if you are grating the onion. Tip into a small bowl and leave on one side.

Put the chopped garlic and ginger into the same food processor and add 4 tbsp water – process until smooth and spoon into another small bowl. Alternatively, crush the garlic to a paste with a knife or garlic press and finely grate the ginger.

Heat the oil in a wok or sturdy pan set over a medium heat. Combine the cumin and fennel seeds with the cinnamon and chilli flakes and add to the pan in one go. Swirl everything around for about 30 secs until the spices release a fragrant aroma.

Add the onion paste – it will splutter in the beginning. Fry until the water evaporates and the onions turn a lovely dark golden - this should take about 7-8 mins. Add the garlic and ginger paste and cook for another 2 mins – stirring all the time.

Stir in the garam masala, turmeric, and sugar and continue cooking for 20 secs before tipping in the tomatoes. Continue cooking on a medium heat for about 10 mins without a lid until the tomatoes reduce and darken.

Cut the chicken thighs into 3cm chunks and add to the pan once the tomatoes have thickened to a paste. Cook for 5 mins to coat the chicken in the masala and seal in the juices, and then pour over the hot chicken stock. Simmer for 8-10 mins without a lid until the chicken is tender and the masala lightly thickened – you might need to add an extra ladleful of stock or water if the curry needs it.

Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve with Indian flatbreads or fluffy basmati rice and a pot of yogurt on the side.

Chitti Avadalu

Chitti Avadalu :

Ingredients:

Ingredients for Garelu (Dumplings):

Black Gram – 100gms
Water – 55gms to 60gms
Salt to taste or 1/2tsp
Oil for Deep Frying
Ingredients for Perugu (Curd):

Curd – 400gms
Green chilies – 5
Ginger – Small Piece
Cumin Seeds – 1/2tsp
Curry Leaves – Few
Fenugreek Seeds – 5 Seeds
Black Gram – 1 1/2tsps
Mustard Seeds – 3/4tsp
Cumin Seeds – 3/4tsp
Turmeric Powder – A Pinch
Salt to Taste
Asafoetida – 1/8tsp
Oil – 6tsps
Ingredients for Buttermilk:

Curd – 100gms
Salt around 1/2tsp
Water – 100gms

Preparations:

Preparing Batter:

Take dal in a bowl and wash it. Add fresh water to the dal and soak it for4 to 5 hours. In a mixer grinder grind the soaked dal adding salt and water. Add water little by little while grinding. Beat the batter with fingers to incorporate air for soft garelu (dumplings). The consistency of the batter should not be too thick or too thin. If the consistency of the batter is thick, the dumplings will not get cooked when fried. If the consistency of the batter is thin they absorb lot of oil when fried in oil. To test the consistency of the batter, take water in a bowl. Add a small portion of the batter in the water. If the batter sinks then the consistency is not right. If the batter floats then the consistency is right. The batter floats on water when it is light. So the fried garelu will be soft when the batter is light.



Preparing Perugu (Curd):

First coarsely grind the green chilies, ginger and cumin seeds. Then add the curry leaves and grind (just use the whip button) coarsely so that the curry leaves will get chopped finely instead of becoming a paste. Take this ground mixture into a plate and keep it aside. Take curd in a bowl and whisk it with a whisker till smooth. Add salt to the smoothened curd and mix well.

Heat a pan and add oil to it. When the oil is hot add the fenugreek seeds and black gram. Fry till the seeds start changing color. Then add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Fry till the seeds splutter and then add the asafoetida. Mix well and add the ground chili paste. Fry well and switch off the flame. Now add the turmeric powder and mix well. Turmeric powder when mixed with hot oil and mixed into the curd gives the curd a nice color. Now add the seasoning to the curd and mix well. Add chopped coriander leaves to the curd for better flavor. Keep this curd in fridge till use or else it will turn sour.

Preparing Buttermilk:

We dip the garelu in either buttermilk and then allow them to soak to become soft. Then we add the soaked garelu to the prepared curd. The hot garelu when directly added to the curd curdles the curd and releases water. So to avoid this first we have to bring down the temperature of the garelu to normal and then soak them in the curd mixture to absorb the tastes of the curd.

Mostly people dip the dumplings (garelu) in water after frying them. For better taste we are using buttermilk for soaking the garelu. When the garelu are dipped in buttermilk, they soak the buttermilk and become soft. Buttermilk is a product of curd so the flavors mix well. If we dip them in water and then add to the curd, the taste will be mild and different.

Churn the curd, salt and water together and prepare thin consistency buttermilk. Salt in the buttermilk should be more when compared to the salt in the curd which we have prepared earlier.

Method:

Preparing Chitti Avadalu:

Heat a pan and add oil enough for deep frying the garelu. When the oil is hot, wet your fingers and take a portion of the batter with the wet fingers and drop small portions into the hot oil. After a while they float in the oil. Then fry them by stirring with a ladle till they are golden in color. Remove the garelu when they are light golden in color and immediately add them to the prepared buttermilk. Soak the garelu in buttermilk for few minutes.

Do not fry the garelu till they turn red in color. Such deep fried garelu when dipped in buttermilk will not absorb any liquid. So it is necessary that the garelu are fried till they are light golden in color.

After few minutes observe that the garelu have absorbed buttermilk and become soft. Remove them from the buttermilk and keep them in a plate separately.

Like this fry the garelu with the remaining batter and soak them in the buttermilk and keep them separately in the plate.

Serving:

Take two bowls and add the soaked garelu in each bowl equally. Now add the prepared curd on the garelu and spread it. See that all garelu are nicely dipped in the curd mixture. Leave these bowls aside for one hour. After one hour observe that the garelu have absorbed the curd mixture. Now they are ready to be served. Serve garnished with chopped coriander.

Points to Notice:

Why we fail in making this dish?

If the batter is thick and garelu are made with this thick batter, then they will not get cooked and will not absorb any liquid. Batter should be light—so check for the consistency.

If the batter is of right consistency but garelu fried till they turn red, then also the garelu will not absorb any liquid. So fry them till they are golden in color then they will absorb the liquid to become soft.

Third point is salt.

If the proportion of salt is more in curd mixture than the proportion of salt in the buttermilk, to balance the salt it will draw water from the soaked garelu. Thus the garelu will become hard and your recipe fails. So take care and see to it that the salt is more in the buttermilk than the salt in the curd. See that the buttermilk tastes saltier than the curd mixture.

If one follows these points and make this recipe then you can enjoy soft and tasty Chitti Avadalu.

Avadalu are also known as Perugu Vadalu. Usually Avadalu are made in the following manner:

Pat a portion of batter on the palm and make a hole in the centre. Drop this in hot oil and fry them till golden in color. Dip them

in buttermilk and soak them in the curd mixture. To soak them we need a flat bowl to occupy all the garelu separately. Then while serving serve each avada with some curd on it. But here I made chitti garelu (fried small dumplings of the batter) and arranged them in two individual bowls. Each chitti avada can be eaten with a spoon.