Nadan Chicken Curry (Kerala Style)

Kerala Chicken Curry or nadan chicken curry (translated as country chicken curry) is the most basic chicken curry from down South, Kerala, though a bit spicy, sauted in coconut oil and lastly a small seasoning with curry leaves and whole red chillies makes this one truly traditional and special.

Again, this is amma's recipe....which she has perfected over the years....and making this always reminds me of her (I live a good 10 hours away from her). The secret to the success of this curry is the sauting of onions in low flame until they are light brown and after adding chicken, again sauting it till all the moisture is absorbed without adding any water....and that makes all the difference!!

The oh! so glamorous butter chicken gets all the attention from around the world, and basic everyday curries like this one gets sidelined.......always a comfort food which can be made with the bare minimum ingredients ....... sadly never got any international attention...just kidding!!

It is a belief that making Indian curries are very troublesome and difficult...but I assure you that, you can make this without much trouble, just follow my instructions and you will have wonderful chicken curry ready for dinner....please store some garam masala in your pantry....this comes handy while making Indian curries.

I love spices and love spicy food, you can reduce the chilly powder if you like it less....but one important suggestion is to use Kashmiri Chilly Powder as this has very dark color and the spice/heat is very less compared to ordinary Red chilly powder....I think I have mentioned this a number of times here....just reminding you.

Coconut oil imparts the country flavor to this curry along with fresh curry leaves....if you ever chance to visit Exotic Kerala, I would recommend this curry to try!! especially if you are visiting the backwaters of Kuttanad or Kumarakom. To bring in more exotic touch to this curry you can add 3/4 cup of thick coconut milk instead of water at the last stage.....okay, now that I mentioned it...next time I am adding coconut milk!!

Let's get cooking!!
Recipe Source: Amma.

Ingredients:
Chicken: 1 kg, bone-in-chicken cut into medium sized pieces.

To mince finely or paste
Onion: 3.
Ginger: 1.5 inch.
Garlic: 18-20 cloves.
Curry leaves: 1 sprig.

First Seasoning:
Cardamon: 3 or 4, lightly crushed.
Cloves: 3 or 4.
Cinnamon: 1/4 inch piece.
A fat pinch of fennel seeds.(optional)

Masalas:
Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder: 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp, adjust according to your taste.(if using ordinary red chilly powder, reduce by half)
Coriander powder: 1 tbsp, heaped.
Turmeric: 1/4 tsp.
Pepper powder: 3/4 tsp.
Garam Masala: 2 tsp.
................................
Tomatoes: 2, large chopped or 3 medium.
Salt: 1.5 tsp or as needed.
Coconut oil: 4 tbsp.
Curry leaves.
Water: About 1 cup....to add to tomatoes and lastly to chicken.

Second Tadka/Seasoning:
Coconut oil: 1 tsp.
Whole red chilly: 4-5, broken.
Mustard seeds: 3/4 tsp.
Curry leaves.

Method:
Gather all the ingredients for mincing or pasting.

I used my food processor; just cut onions and ginger roughly and put in the food processor along with garlic, green chilly, and curry leave, and blitz away!.

Minced!!

In a heavy bottomed large Kadai or pan or whatever is available in your kitchen (just make sure it will hold one kg meat), heat 4 tbsp of coconut oil. Add in cardamons, cinnamon, cloves and fennel.

Add in the minced onion mix. Once it becomes hot, reduce the flame and let it saute on low flame for 15 min or until the onions becomes medium brown. At this point add salt too.

You can also, add chicken fat (if there are any) to this...let it fry away on low flame....stir occasionally, so that it does not get sticked to the pan

Meanwhile, measure the spices on to a plate...for your ease.

This is the color we are looking for...the more dark the better!!

Add in the masala powders and mix.....remember low flame all the way.

Add in the chopped tomatoes.

And mix and add little water about 1/4 cup....this is just to make the tomatoes all mushy and cook faster.

Again saute for another 10 minutes or until oil comes out...this is really important!! so have patience till the oil starts coming out. Let me also mention that, this is the basic curry sauce.....you can make this ahead and freeze or refrigerate ....and then later heat this up and proceed to the next step. See that oil?? Yeah, we are on!!

Add in the chicken.

Mix them up.....add some fresh curry leaves...and allow the chicken to be mixed on low flame for another 10 minutes or so...this is to make moisture in the chicken to be absorbed, and it will be lightly fried....so do not add water....after about 10-15 min...the chicken will be 3/4 cooked....you can also cover the pan.

The chicken is cooked, juicey and tender....I added about 1/2 cup of water and allowed it to simmer a few minutes....if you want a thick gravy 1/2 cup will be fine...but for a not-so-thick-gravy.....can add 1/4 cup more water...I am a thick-gravy-kind-of-person :)

Lastly, the second seasoning... heat another small kadai or pan with a tsp of coconut oil and add in the mustard seeds, red chilly, and curry leaves....lightly fry it and pour this on top of the curry....preferably just before serving.