Chettinad Chicken

Chettinad Chicken

Ingredients 

• 1 kg boneless chicken
• 1kg skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1 teaspoon turmeric (haldi) powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• Salt to taste
• salt to taste
• ¼ cup oil
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 large onions, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• 4 green chillies
• 2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
• 2 sprigs curry leaves (kadipatta)
• 2 teaspoons fennel seed
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste
• 2 teaspoons coriander seed
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed
• 1 teaspoon cumin (jeera) seeds
• 3 large onions, minced
• 3 tomatoes (about 1 cup chopped)
• 4 green chillies, chopped
• Dry Masala
• 2 sprigs fresh curry leaves
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds (khus khus)
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste
• 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds (saunf)
• 250g chopped fresh tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons coriander (dhania) seeds
• 120ml water
• Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Rub with turmeric and salt.
• Directions:

1. Rub the chicken pieces with the turmeric and salt. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large frying pan or kadhai. Fry all the dry masala ingredients. Take them out, grind and keep aside.
3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or kadhai over medium heat. Fry the poppy seeds, peppercorns, fennel seed, coriander seed and cumin seed in the hot oil until they just begin to change colour; remove from the frying pan, keeping the oil in the frying pan. Grind the spice mixture with a mortar and pestle and set aside.
4. Fry onions, green chillis, curry leaves, ginger and garlic paste to the oil till onions turn golden brown. Now add tomatoes and ground dry masala. Cook till tomatoes are soft and the oil leaves the tomatoes. Add the chicken. Add salt to taste and fry the chicken for 5 minutes. Cover with a lid, add 1/2 cup water, and cook for 30 minutes till chicken is tender. Serve.
5. Add the onion, green chillies, curry leaves, ginger paste and garlic paste to the remaining oil; cook until the onions are golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir the tomatoes and ground spices into the mixture; cook until the tomatoes are softened. Add the chicken. Season with salt and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour the water over the mixture, cover and cook until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle and the juices run clear, about 30 minutes. Serve hot.