Chicken Chettinad is a popular recipe from TamilNadu. Chettinad cuisines are very popular in Tamil Nadu and India. They are tasty, spicy and prepared by blending different spices. Its a must try recipe. I am not making much changes to its originality and giving the traditional way of preparing chicken chettinad.




Ingredients:
1kg chicken
2 onions finely chopped
2 tomatoes finely chopped
3 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
few curry leaves
coriander leaves for garnishing .


For the Masala Paste:
2 green chillis
8 garlic flakes
1″ ginger
1 tsp poppy seeds (soak in warm water for 10 mts)
10 shallots (small onions)
2" fresh ginger root
5 garlic flakes
6 red chillies or to taste
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp poppy seeds
1/2 tsp peppercorns
1/4 cup fresh coconut grating
1" cinnamon stick
2 cloves
2-3 cardamoms.
oil - 2 tbsp.



Method:

1. Cut and wash the chicken pieces and drain all the water and keep aside.
2. Smear the pieces with turmeric powder and salt. Set aside for 10-15 minutes.
3. Heat the oil in a large pan.
4. Roast all the ingredients of Masala paste in it by adding one by one, starting from the seeds and other ingredients and grated coconut. Roast for some 2-3 minutes on medium flame.
5. Remove from fire, cool and grind to a fine paste and set aside.
6. Heat oil in a cooking vessel, add the small onions, mustard seeds and curry leaves and saute till transparent.
7. Add the chopped tomatoes and saute till it becomes tender and soft.
8. Add the ground paste and cook for a minute . Saute till raw smell disappears or the oil separates from the mixture.
9. Now add the chicken pieces and cook for 5 mins.
10. Stir occasssionaly and not often.
11. Reduce the flame, add salt and turmeric powder and stir well.
12. Add 1/2 -1 cup of water and combine well (You can also substitute coconut milk for water forricher taste).
13. Close with a lid and cook on low flame till the chicken pieces become tender.
14. Garnish with coriander leaves.
15. Now your chetinad chicken is ready to serve.
16. Serve hot with rice, briyani, roti etc.

Making Time: 30-35 minutes.

Serves: 4 persons.

Shelflife: 1 day.

Note: Coconut milk can be substituted for water for richer taste. For making coconut milk, Grind together grated coconut with some water and extract the water seperately with its thick consistency, its the coconut milk.

Click here to know all about Tamil Nadu cuisines- Introduction To Tamil Nadu Cuisines And Recipes.

The Parappu Urandai Kozhambu forms two part, the Parappu urandai or the dumplings and the gravy respectively. The Parappu Urandai looks like the above pic when they are ready to be cooked.



Paruppu urundai kulambu / kuzhambu or lentil dumplings in tamarind and coconut sauce. Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu is basically lentil dumplings in a hot, tangy sauce. Toor Dal is ground to a paste with dried red chilies, asafoetida and salt after having been soaked for 2-3 hours; and is then shaped into round dumplings with a tempering of mustard & cumin seeds and curry leaves; and steam cooked before being dunked in a Kuzhambu with a Tamarind base.



Ingredients:
For Parappu Urandai:
Toor dal – 1 cup
Coconut shredded – ¼ cup or less (Depending on your taste)
Jeera / Cumin seeds – 1 tbsp.
Green chillies - 1 or 2
Dry red chillies – 1 or 2
Curry leaves – 1 sprig.
Garlic - 1 or 2 (optional)
Salt – As required.
Rice flour-2 tbsp.


For Masal Paste:
Shallot / pearl onions – ½ cup.(Red onions can be used if there are no shallots)
Shredded coconut – ¼ cup
Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Dry chillies – 1 or 2 (Depending on the spice level).
Medium sized tomato – 1 (optional).
Sambar powder - 1 tbsp (Instead of Sambhar powder the following can also be roasted and powdered to a fine powder and used-
Cumin seeds 1 spoon
Fenugreek seeds 1/2 spoon
Chana dal 1/2 spoon
Urad dal 1/2 spoon
Asafoetida 1/2 spoon
Dry red chilies 3-5
Curry leaves).


For Gravy(Kozhambu):
Shallot / pearl onions – ½ cup.(Red onions can be used if there are no shallots)
Tamarind – small lemon sized extracted to pulp or tamarind pulp- 4tbsp
Tomatoes finely chopped - 1
Galic pod crushed - 2 nos
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Salt.


For Tempering:
Oil-3 tbsp
Chopped red onions or chopped shallots - 1/2 of a small cup.
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Hing/ Asfoetida – pinch
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Dry red chillies -2 nos .



Method:
For the Parappu Urandai:

1. Soak the toor dal for an hour.
2. Grind all the above ingredients (given for Urandai) into a coarse paste without adding any water.
3. If your ground mixture turns out watery, add a bit of rice flour before it is steamed (add only if its watery).
4. It should be of the consistency to make round dumplings.
5. Now there are two ways to prepare the dal dumplings or parupu urundai.
6. Make the ground mixture into small bite sized balls and steam in an idli steamer.
7. Take a non stick pan and add 1 tbsp of oil, when the oil is hot add the grind mixture and fry till alll the extra water evaporates. Allow the mixture to cool and make small bite sized balls. (I personally prefer the second method which is easier and tastier too).
8. Now the Parappu Urandais are ready.

For the Masala Paste:

1. Heat 1tbsp of oil in a pan, add the onions then the tomatoes and saute well till it is cooked well.
2. Finally add the coconut, sauté for 2 minutes and at the end add the coriander powder, sambar powder and mix well.
3. Cool the mixture and grind into a fine paste.

For the Gravy(Kozhambu):

1. Heat oil in a big kadai or vessel.
2. Add the mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves and dry red chillies chillies and saute it. Allow the mustard seeds to crackle.
3. Add the chopped red onions or the shallots and saute it till it turns brownish in colour.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and saute till it gets tender. Add garlic pod and saute till odour leaves.
5. Now add turmeric powder, salt and the grinded masala paste and saute for 2 minutes.
6. Then add the tamarind extract or the tamarind pulp and mix well by stiring it.
7. Allow the gravy to boil for 4-5 minutes. Reduce the flame .
8. Now add the Urandai or the dumplings into the boiling gravy one by one. Stir it once, but dont stir often since it may lead to breaking of the dumplings.
9. Once the lentil balls or paruppu urundai is soft and cooked well, switch of the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.
10. Check that the gravy gets sticked to the dumplings for better taste .
11. Serve with hot steamed rice and pappad.

Making Time: 40-50 minutes.
Serves: 4 persons.
Shelflife: 1 day.


Note: Dont stir the Kozhambu or gravy often once the dumplings (urandais) are added to it, It may break the lentsils and dissolve it. You can either use the sambhar powder or the ingredients mentioned as an option for it depending on what makes the cooking easier and simple.


Click here to know all about Tamil Nadu cuisines- Introduction To Tamil Nadu Cuisines And Recipes.