Andhra Chicken Fry

We had been to an Indian restaurant 2 years ago with my inlaws and had ordered this andra chicken fry as a starter. We really liked the flavors and the spiciness of it and wanted to try. Was wondering what spices to use, I thought of asking my brother inlaw who is a great lover  of chicken and from andra. He gave me this recipe and wow it really turned out to be spicy and delicious, much better than the one we tried out in the restaurant.  

What You need :

1 lb Chicken with bones - cut into bite size pieces.
1 large onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon Ginger garlic paste
Dry Masala : 3 Cloves , 1/2 inch cinnamon sticks,  2 teaspoon black pepper, 1-2 dry chillies, turmeric powder and  1/4 cup dry coconut.

Grind to coarse powder.

1 big Tomato boiled, peeled and Pureed.

How it's made:

Heat oil in a pan and add the onions. Fry till onions turn golden brown in color. Add chicken, fry for a few minutes and add salt to taste. Close the lid and cook til the chicken is almost done. Open the lid and let the water evaporate. Add ginger-garlic paste, cook for a while and than add tomato puree and fry for some more time. Now add the dry masala and fry for 4-5 minutes till you get a nice aroma.

serve as starter or as a side dish. 

Note: use the red chilly depending on your taste and the heat of the chilly, My BIL suggested I use 10-12 chilly, I used just 2 red chilly and it was still hot.

I sometimes use crushed canned tomatoes instead of tomato puree.

Saunf Chicken Fry

This is yet another quick chicken fry recipe, I just made up with whatever ingredients I felt like adding. I had some boneless chicken pieces and wanted to make something pretty quick by the time my dal would be done. (you need to multitask when you have little one nagging you to play with her). So here is my jhatpat saunf chicken fry.

What You need:
250 gms - boneless chicken breast
1 tablespoon saunf( fennel seeds)
1 small dried red chilly
1 tablespoon dessicated coconut
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder/ or 1 garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon lemon juice
few curry leaves
salt to taste
1 tablespoon oil

How its made:
Clean and cut the chicken into small bite size cubes. Dry roast saunf, chilly, curry leaves and coconut. Cool and grind to a course powder. Mix the powder, lemon juice, turmeric powder and salt with the chicken and let it marinate for 10 minutes (Longer you marinate it will taste better, but I wanted to get done quickly). Heat oil in a shallow frying pan, add the marinated chicken and cook till done. Serve with rice and dal.

Quick Pepper Chicken

My hubby loves chicken and he needs often. So we both try cooking different variations, though he still prefers his chettinad style. This is one quick modified version. If you have the chicken cut and ready to go you can make this in no time. (we normally get whole chicken, cut and freeze in small packets for one time serving). I normally start heating the pan while cutting onions, and while chicken is cooking, grind the spices ( I use coffee/spice grinder), so it gets done really quick in about 10 minutes.

What  you need :
About 2 cups Chicken - boneless cut into small pieces
2 teaspoon Ginger-garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
Salt - to taste

To Powder:-
1 1/2 tablespoon Whole black pepper corns
2 tablespoon Cumin seeds
2 Cloves
1/2 " piece Cinnamon

For tempering:-
2 tablespoon Oil
Few Curry leaves 
1 medium Onion - (cut into thin slices)

How it's made :
Heat oil in a pan and add the curry leaves and onions fry well, once done add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder and fry. Add the chicken pieces and fry until the chicken turns white and almost cooked. ( I cut into tiny small pieces so that it cooks quicker). Add the powdered spices, salt and fry for a 2-3 minutes until the chicken is well coated with the masala. Turn off the heat and serve as a side dish with rice and dal.

Dry chicken with coconut (Kori sukka)

I was bored cooking my usual chicken dishes and was looking to try something new. I came across this recipe on Indobase website. It said it was karnatakan dish. Quickly noted it down and tried it. Later I was wondering in which part of karnataka do they call this kori sukka and than searched for the origin of this recipe. It's a Manglorean based recipe and chicken in Tulu is Kori. Anyway I liked it and would surely try it out again.

What you need :

chicken pieces with bones preferably (about 800 grams) 

1  large onion finely chopped

8  curry leaves
2  tablespoons ghee / butter / oil
salt to taste  

Masala 1:

2  tablespoon(s) coriander seeds
½  teaspoon fennel seeds

½  teaspoon turmeric powder
1  teaspoon black peppercorns

1  teaspoon cumin and 

1  teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1  tablespoon poppy seeds

5  whole dry red chillies (use according to your taste)

1  tablespoon tamarind paste 

Masala 2 :

1 cup coconut grated ( I used dry shredded coconut)
5-6  garlic flakes

1  teaspoon cumin

How it's made :
Heat little ghee in  a pan and roast all ingredients listed in masala 1 and grind along with tamarind paste and keep it aside.
Coarsely grind the grated coconut, garlic and cumin seeds (for just a round or two) without adding any water at all. Its needs to be as dry as possible.

Mix the chicken with the Masala 1 paste. Cover and cook (without adding water) on low level in a heavy-bottomed pan till the chicken is almost cooked. Add the second masala paste and salt to taste. Cover and cook on low level for about 3  minutes or till the chicken is fully cooked.
Heat the ghee / butter in a pan, add in the curry leaves and fry for a few seconds. Add the finely chopped onions and fry till brown. pour this garnish over the chicken.
Server hot with roti or as a side dish.

pepper chicken

My hubby makes this yummy pepper chicken, this time I had some chicken in the freezer, so I asked him for the recipe and tried it myself.
Turned out pretty good, not spicy as he does though.

What You need:
chicken pieces ( with bone or boneless)-1/2 lb
Onion finely chopped- 1
Tomatoes finely cut- 2 small ones
Ginger garlic paste-  1 teaspoon
garam masala- 1/2 teaspoon
red chilly powder- 1 teaspoon
black pepper- 1 tablespoon
few curry leaves
Cilantro leaves to garnish
salt to taste
oil

How its made:
Heat oil in a pan, add onions and fry until brown, add ginger garlic paste and fry for a few minutes, add the chicken pieces, cook them till the meat turns white. Add the tomatoes, garam masala, chilly powder, curry leaves, salt and cook, keep it covered. You can add little water if needed. When almost done add in freshly ground black pepper and mix. Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with rice or chapathi.

Chilly chicken

Since I came to US I have been getting boneless chicken. It doesn't taste good if I made curry so started experimenting with other dishes. This was one of the recipes that I had tried 3 years back. Staying in Delhi we always enjoyed the chilly chicken in Dhabha. I have done this several times and you cant go wrong with it. Just take care not to overcook it or burn it while cooking. the flour tends to stick to the bottom and gets burned.

What you need: 

Chicken – ½ kg, boneless, cut into 1-inch pieces
Onion – 2 finely sliced
Ginger – ½ inch  finely chopped and crushed
Garlic – 2 cloves, finely chopped and crushed
Tomato sauce- 1 tablespoon
Green chillies – 3 finely chopped
Capsicum - 1, sliced length-wise
Red chilly powder – 1 teaspoon or depending on the hotness
Black pepper powder – ½ teaspoon
All purpose flour – 1 tablespoon
corn flour- 1 tablespoon
Soya sauce – 2 teaspoons
lemon juice- 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil – 1 tablespoon

How it's made:
Mix well both the flour, chilly powder, black pepper powder, soya sauce, lemon juice, tomato sauce, ginger, garlic, and salt. Add the chicken pieces to this and marinate it for 2-4 hours in a refrigerator. Heat oil in a pan and when the oil is hot, add the onions and saute till slightly golden. Add the marinated chicken pieces and half of the cut capsicum and saute on low heat  until the chicken is tender taking care not to burn the chicken pieces by stirring continuously. Sprinkle a little hot water whenever needed while cooking. When almost done add the remaining capsicum, so that they don't turn soggy. Serve it hot with chapathi or rice. yummy!!!