 |
I am back from my wonderful trip to India. My daughter and I went for four weeks to visit family and friends. When in India, I divide my time between Mumbai and Nashik (an industrial city about 3 hours away inland) where my sister and her family live. My sister is a wonderful cook and went all out in preparing some of the most delicious food I’ve ever tasted – every day. This coconut-based chicken curry is one such preparation.
Onions and copra (dried meat or kernel of coconut) are first dry roasted on a pan till brown and then ground to a fine paste along with fresh ginger, garlic, cilantro, green chillies and tomatoes. In case you are unable to find copra (dry coconut) just use freshly grated coconut and then dry roast. Spices like cloves, cinnamon, poppy seeds, coriander seeds, black cardamom, green cardamom, sessame seeds are also dry roasted and then ground to a fine powder. Serve this flavorful preparation with Indian bread or white rice and a salad for a complete meal.
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds chicken
- 1 big onion sliced
- 1 cup copra, (you can use freshly grated coconut if you are unable to find this) It is readily available in any Indian grocery store
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground ginger
- 5 big cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, washed clean
- 3 green chillies
- 2 medium sized tomatoes- pureed
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon red chilly powder
- salt to taste
- 6 tablespoons oil
Spices to be dry roasted and ground:
- 1 bay leaf
- 5- 6 green cardamoms
- 1 big black cardamom
- 2 teaspoon poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
- 3-4 whole black peppercorns
- 4 cloves
Dry roast the above spices on a pan and cool. After it’s cooled, grind to a fine powder in a coffee grinder.
Method:
Wet Masala-Dry roast the onions on a pan till brown. Be careful, not to burn as the chicken might taste bitter. Keep aside. Dry roast copra or freshly ground coconut till it turns brown. Grind the onions, copra, ginger, garlic, cilantro, green chillies to a fine paste by adding as much water as needed. Make a fine paste of this and keep aside. Using the same mixer, puree the tomatoes and keep aside.
Dry Masala-On another pan, dry roast the bay leaf, green and black cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cinnamon stick, black peppercorns and cloves till it gives off an aroma. Cool this and grind it in a coffee grinder to make a fine powder and keep aside.
Heat oil in a vessel. Add the wet masala and saute. Careful, this mixture will splatter as it will have lots of water used during grinding. Cover and let this cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the pureed tomatoes along with the dry masala, red chilly powder, turmeric and cook for another 10 minutes stirring occasionally, till the oil separates.
Add the chicken and mix well making sure the masala has coated the chicken well. Fry this for 5 minutes and season with salt well. Add 1 cup hot water and let it cook for 20-25 minutes till the chicken is cooked. If you like the gravy thick add less water while cooking the chicken. Serve hot with rice and salad. Enjoy!
Related Recipes:
Chicken curry is chicken cooked in a gravy. The gravy which is called the curry is cooked in different ways to give each curry a unique and distinct taste. ...
Chicken Masala Curry- Serves 3 I am always trying variations on my traditional chicken curry recipe. I try and change things every week if possible. So som ...
Welcome back! I’ll bet you had a great time. Certainly it sounds as if you ate well! And I love the flavors in this recipe – really sounds tasty. Good post – thanks.
wow..yummy n tempting chicken curry.thx for sharing!
hello asmita! i have missed you!
glad to know you had a wonderful time with your family in india… also glad for this recipe share from your sister. it sure looks amazing!
Thanks Margarita,
It’s so good to be back. Had a wonderful holiday!
Wow – this sounds so delicious! It is early morning where I live…I want this for breakfast!
I think coconut based curries are my favorite.
Welcome back my friend, I’m glad you and your daughter had such a fabulous time
You have come back with one delicious curry!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks Uru,
It’s great to be back. Missed my blogging world.
You make the BEST curries
Nom. I made a Massaman the other night that was kind of similar.
Thank you Cass. That is the sweetest compliment.
Wow superb!! Perfect quantities , what a way to get ashlesha’s recipe!! Need to share one of her fish ones too…
Thanks Anjali. I hope you try this. I will post her fish recipe soon too!
Welcome back Asmita!
Your sister is a great cook…you are lucky! I wish my brother is a good cook…haha. What a delicious curry! I need to attempt making Indian coconut chicken curry (I’ve tried Thai so next up Indian!).
Hi Nami,
Thanks so much. Yes, my sister is a fantastic cook and I have learnt a few recipes from her on this trip. We are a foodie family. Love to cook and love to eat.
I’m such a sucker for coconut – sweet, savoury, I’m in.
Thanks so much.
I can imagine the flavor that dry roasted coconut must have added to the curry! this looks great, asmita! Welcome back!! Its great to see a post from you!
Hi Anuradha,
Thanks so much. The roasted dry coconut does give the curry depth of flavor. One of my favorite curries.
Hi Asmita – welcome back to the blogosphere – nice to see you again! I hope you had a wonderful time and you’re back in strength with a fantastic dish here. I bet this would work really well with shrimp too maybe, right? I’m not a big fan of chicken so I don’t buy it much!
Hi Charles,
It’s great to be back. I missed blogging though I did have a very relaxed holiday.
You could use Goat meat, lamb or shrimp. Wow, I had not given shrimp a thought. It would taste fantastic. Yummy!
This sounds wonderfully delicious and I can just imagine how amazing it smells. The seasonings are some of my favorites. It sounds like you had a fantastic trip! Welcome back.
This sounds tasty and delicious Asmita!
Sounds like a wonderful visit! I’d love this curry, so flavorful, and I’d definitely need bread with it. Delicious!
A beautiful curry! Great flavor combination. I’m drooling now…
Cheers,
Rosa
Looks really good Asmita,
You know growing up I use to eat dried coconut with fennel seeds and some sugar, my grandmom use to make this as mouth freshner..
I can literary taste this curry by reading the recipe..
Need to try sometime !!
Thanks Reem.
Welcome back Asmita! This curry looks really tasty with all the flavors you added in it! I can smell it from here!
Thanks Katerina.
oh Asmita!! Lucky you!! I guess I can see that you and your sister share the same genes! You guys are both such great chefs! I’d love to make this recipe but I get a little intimidated reading the instructions. hehee.. mmm!! Some day I’ll learn to make yummy indian food! haha..
Hi Sammie,
Thanks so much. I get intimidated and in awe of the desserts you bake. You bake the most fantastic stuff ever!
Glad you enjoyed your trip to India. It’s nice to be able to visit family and friends. I’ve got a lot to learn about Indian cooking and thank you for including step-by-step help.
Sam
Welcome back!
The curry looks delicious and loaded with flavours!
Thanks Angie.
Welcome back Asmita, Sounds like it was a wonderful trip and your are in full swing with a fantastic dish. really looks delicious!
Thanks Balvinder.
Welcome back Asmita
So how was India? This chicken curry looks yummy…I have never made it, bookmarking the recipe 
India was awesome. I spent quality time with my family and was pamered by them, rotten. Loved every minute of it. It’s great to be back.
this sounds absolutely delicious!
This looks fantastic, so rich and satisfying! If only I could get fresh coconut, I have to make do with canned or use the frozen grated stuff from an Indian store not too far away!
Hi Lin,
The frozen grated coconut from the Indian grocery store should work great. I hope you like this curry. It is one of my favorite.
i have never done my chicken with both coconut and curry! It sounds delicious and i have seen it done before but your version is just screaming for me to try it
Thanks.
Welcome back! I’m so glad you had a good trip. And this dish looks absolutely amazing!
Thank you.
YAY, you’re back!!!!!!!!!!! Glad you had a nice time and came home with a kickass recipe. THis looks crazy good.. but one question, do you use breasts or thighs? This will help me determine how much oil to use. I’ve never heard of Copra.. i’ll have to ask the folks at the desi store.
Thanks. I actually used a whole chicken. Then I just de one it once it’s cooked since my husband does not like to eat chicken with the bones. I like to use it since it’s got so much flavor.
Copra is basically dried coconut. Sold as copra in any Indian grocery store. I bought the shredded one so it was easier for me to grind.
I hope you make this and enjoy it.
So glad you’re back and so happy you had a good time
What a fabulous curry recipe Asmita. I love spicy food and a good curry is always welcome in my home. I love the sweetness of the coconut in this dish. Great to see a truly authentic Indian curry. Yum
Hi Asmita,
I made this today and it’s soooo good! reminds me of the malwani chicken I love at alibag. I couldn’t wait until dinner so I have already sampled too much! A big thanks to your Sis!
Hi Nilima,
Thanks so much for trying it out and I will definitely let my sister know how much you loved it. It reminds me too of Malwani style chicken and I had to get this recipe down when I tasted it at her place so that I could make it for hubby who loves Goan food.