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Sunday, September 5, 2010

Chettinattu Kozhi Kuzhambu ( chettinad chicken gravy(without cocunut) )


Chicken gravy is one item which can be used as a side dish for many food items like chapati, roti, nan, idly or dosa.It will be excellent for rice also. But many of us now don't want to use coconut to make gravy since we grow calorie conscious day by day. Moreover the food items using coconut will not stay good for long. and cannot be stored for a longer period. chettinad dishes usually dont contain too much of coconut.They make tasty gravy without using much coconut.
This recipe of chicken gravy will give you the gravy needed without the use of coconut.Before leaving US I wanted to freeze some food . I did not want to use coconut for freezing. I followed this recipe and the gravy turned out awesome. I come to know that every time they thaw the frozen gravy, It is fresh and good.
For chicken gravy it is always better to use fresh chicken and not the frozen one that people in US get from the stores. When I was there my son-in-law used to get chicken from local Halal shop which was good like the one we get in India. Those who stay abroad can try getting fresh chicken like this if there is a chance to do so.

Ingredients
chicken -2 pounds or 750 gms
small onion-20 or chopped big onion-1
tomato-1 medium size
Garlic-10 pods
Mint leaf-little (if you have stock)
curry leaf-little
Tamarind paste -1 teaspoon
Coriander leaves- a bunch (for garnishing)
For marination
Kuzhambu milagai thool-1 tablespoon or chili powder-2 teaspoon
Coriander powder-1 table spoon
Thick curd-1 tablespoon
turmeric powder-1 teaspoon
ginger garlic paste-2 teaspoons
salt-1 table spoon (as needed)
Masal for grinding
Big onion-2 (US onion-2 Indian-4)
Tomato-2 (Us tomato-2 Indian-4)
green chili-2
Cashews-8
Kas kas- 1 teaspoon or pottukadalai-1 tablespoon
Cinnamon-1 small piece
clove-2
fennel seeds-1 teaspoon
For seasoning
fennel seeds-1 teaspoon
mint leaf,curry leaf -little (if you have stock)
Cinnamon-small piece
bay leaf-small piece
clove-2
Cinnamon- a small piece

Method
cut the chicken into small pieces,wash well and marinate with the item given in for marination and keep aside for an hour. If you cant wait no problem you can start cooking within 20 minutes.
Keep a kadai in the stove. In one teaspoon of oil saute the items for the masal.First add the chili,then cashews, fennel seeds and kas kas , and wait till they turn little red. Now add the onion and then tomato pieces and saute well for 5 to 6 minutes. Allow it to cool and then grind it to a smooth paste in a mixi.
Keep the cooker in the stove.In one table spoon of oil season the chicken gravy with the items given in'to season'. saute the small onion or the chopped big onion and tomato. Add the marinated chicken pieces also and saute well for 5 minutes. Add 3 cups of water . Mix everything well and cook in medium fire for 7 to 10 minutes (cooking time depends on the chicken quality and the fitness of the cooker you use). however don't cook for more than 10 minutes. open the cooker once the pressure goes and add the grinded masal along with the tamarind paste and allow the gravy to boil for 5 minutes. check for the taste.I f anything is missing you can add now.The cashews and the kas kas or pottukadalai in the masal will make the gravy thicker as it boils. Switch off the stove and garnish with coriander leaves (don't add coriander leaves if you intend to freeze the gravy).Coriander leaves will add much taste to the gravy. Those who don't want the gravy to have any sourness,tamarind can be avoided.But tamarind will help the gravy to stay fresh for a longer time. little bit tamarind is enough.

10 comments:

kavi said...

Thanks Aunty...I tried and it was good. My husband told me to do the kozhi kuzhambu in this taste hereafterwards...

Asha said...

achi,

in marination should we add coriander powder also even if we use kulambu thool? got confused a little in that...getting addicted of your blog...waiting for more chettinad receipes...

Solai Chidambaram said...

Asha,since we are not using cocunut for the gravy to thicken we have to use coriander powder too.Thanks for the compliments.

collins fernando said...

Collins..
The Gravy was very nice aunty... We tried it today.. was awesome with rice and the chicken was very soft after marinating... had a good lunch.... thanks a lot aunty... :)

Christy said...

Thanks aunty... Really got impressed with my own cooking :)

kewlcribs said...

Aunty, please let me know where we should use the garlic pods?

Thank you for your recipe in advance.

Solai Chidambaram said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Solai Chidambaram said...

Kewl,garlic should be sauted along with onion while making the gravy.

chitt said...

ur recipies are so nice aunty... u r really great...

Skl said...

Hello aunty,
We tried this recipe,turned out great,all chicken kuzhambhu recipes in your blog have a special flavour to it esp after few hrs of cooking,the spices and cooking time is working out wonderful,we had with edli,was so tasty,thank you for all the delicious recipes,I never thought I could cook like this,thank you for the blog,skl