Madras Chicken Curry

[yunnermeier]

I love curry but can't eat it almost everyday as I used to because I live in Europe now. I sometimes get a takeaway from an Indian restaurant but at 20 euro per person, it's not something I can do often! The ready made spice packets sold at tokos are very milky and lacks the complicity and depth of the real thing. The Knorr packets are even worst (not at all spicy, apples, sweet etc.).

I'd really appreciate it if someone could give me an authentic recipe for Madras chicken curry (post here or PM me).

Thank you!

[v. gautam]

Dear Y,

As Waaza and others have explained here before, there are NO codified dishes in Indian regional cuisines. There are many endogamous communities, each with their own special ways of doing things, within which families have their own quirks. So it is not like Chinese cooking or Nyonya cooking.

Plus, the word "curry" as you well know, has wholly different connotations when used by non-Indians to refer to restaurant dishes, versus Indians to refer to a whole gamut of "other" things! Returning to the "restaurant" cuisine, which is what you seem to imply you want to learn to reproduce, unfortunately, it is something that each establishment cooks up on its own free will and imagination. I am not trying to be difficult, only trying to save you from disappointment as to why no one else can help you re-create the flavors of your favorite take out.

That said,

http://www.anothersubcontinent.com/forums/...l=chicken+curry

http://vahrehvah.com/popvideo.php?recipe_id=4263

http://vahrehvah.com/popvideo.php?recipe_id=4343

http://vahrehvah.com/printrecipedetails.php?recipe_id=794

Above were all Indians cooking Indian food of various regional styles.

Below is what you probably were searching for:

Brirtish Indian Take-out style an invented name called Chicken Madras: like American chow mein it has its own merits and has created its own devotees. I you search this forum you will find an addess for a website devoted to British curry house cooking. There re subgenres of this, even!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-4h4qfnrfw&feature=related

The Modern Balti Curry Cookbook

Pat Chapman

Hope this will set you off on an initial trial! Pm me with any questions.

Happy cooking.

gautam

[v. gautam]

Shri Hemant Trivedi has created an extraordinary site called The Hub:

http://www.mayyam.com/hub/viewtopic.php?t=8549

this is the INDEX

Am excerpting 2 recipes in detail because you may find the mixed Indian & English vocabulary used in the index above confusing

Mrs. Mano's CHETTINADU CHICKEN GRAVY:

Powder finely 3 pieces cinnamon, 2 bay leaves [indian Cinnamomum tamala or tejpatta], 2 cloves and 2 green cardamoms.

In a tsp of oil fry 2 [dry] red chillies, 1tsp fennel seeds, 2tsp poppy seeds, 1tbsp gram dal [split chickpeas] and a handful of shredded coconut to a golden brown color and then grind to a fine paste.

Heat a wok or any useful skillet and pour in 4 to 5 tbsp oil.

When the oil becomes hot add 4 chopped onion [indian onionsare smallish, use your judgment] and fry for a few minutes until it changes into a light brown colour.

Then add 4 big tomatoes, which are finely chopped with 10 red chillies, 1tbsp ginger paste, 1tbsp garlic paste, and 1tsp turmeric powder, and fry well until the tomatoes are changed into a fine paste and the oil floats on the surface.

Add the pieces of 1 big chicken [1kg to 11/4kg], 3sp coriander powder [tsp??], 3sp chilli powder, the ground paste, powder and enough salt with 1 cup of water.

Cook on medium fire until the chicken is well cooked.

Garnish with coriander leaves and curry leaves

http://forumhub.mayyam.com/hub/viewtopic.p...=asc&start=1320

MADURAI CHICKEN c/o Hemant Trivedi [Hub]

Madurai has its distinct taste in its dishes because of confluence of many cultures. Chettinadu, saurashtrian and Deccan influence is amalgamated in its non vegetarian dishes.I am presenting this recipe of Chicken curry in two versions. I am sure that all of you who appreciate spice factor in a dish would love this chicken.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken pieces (with bone) 1.5 lbs

Cardamom 5+5 numbers

Cinnamon sticks 1" 3 to 4 nos.

Jeera 2 spoons cumin seed tsp?

Ginger 1.5 " piece

Garlic (Optional) 4 to 5 cloves

Fresh Curds/plain yogurt 1 cup

Salt to taste

Ghee 50 gms

DRY SPICES

Garam masala OR

Cardamom

+Clove+ Cinnamon

+Nutmeg powder 2 spoons

Chilli powder

or

Green chilli paste 1 spoon

METHOD OF PREPARATION

First prepare chicken pieces for marinating by pricking and making slice cuts . Keep aside.

Prepare paste of Poppy seeds, Jeera, Cardamom (four to five), and Ginger.

Use of Garlic is optional .If you are using Garlic also, use just three to four cloves .Add broken cashew pieces to spice paste .Add this paste to Yogurt , mix thoroughly and keep aside.

Now prepare dry powder of two to three pieces of cinnamon, a few cloves (Two to three is enough), A small piece of Nutmeg and if you wish , a little jeera and Couple of Cardamoms. Set aside.

Now rub dry spice powder/Garam Masala on chicken pieces thoroughly after rubbing with salt to taste ,and set aside for ten to fifteen minutes. Smear /Dip the chicken pieces in spice paste mixed yogurt.

Let the chicken pieces marinate for three hours.

Take ghee in a kadai/wok and add whole spices for tempering as shown above.

When cloves puff up, add chicken pieces carefully and cook at medium flame till chicken pieces turn brown .Add Chilli powder at this stage as per your taste.

You have a choice to either use the dry chicken as above or prepare gravy of your choice. But its best to prepare gravy separately and add chicken pieces in it before serving.

Generally dry chicken curry is best with this recipe. You can garnish with lemon slices Green pepper slices and Onion slices.

So cook and enjoy !!!

Kori Ghashi

This is a recipe taken from friends at AS most probably. I apologize for not writing down the name, it is meant for my personal use only. Since you asked for an authentic "Madras curry", I am trying to show you the vast differences that exist. Ghashi is typical of the Karnataka coast, opposite to "Madras" but within the same flavor palette .

1 chicken, about 1 kg, cut into pieces

1½ coconut for milk

½ coconut, grated

15-20 red chillies

2 level tbsp. coriander seeds

1 level tsp cumin seeds

10 seeds fenugreek

1 tsp peppercorns

ghee for frying and tempering

3 onions, chopped

¼ tsp turmeric pdr

6 flakes of garlic

1 tsp butter

salt to taste

½ tsp garam masala

Extract thick and thin milk from the coconut (about 2 cups thick and 3 cups thin). I frequently used canned coconut milk instead.

Roast the grated coconut until brown.

Fry ingredients from red chillies to peppercorns in a little ghee. Fry separately 1 chopped onion until light brown. Grind the coconut, the spices and the onion with the turmeric and garlic to a very fine paste.

Combine the masala with the thin milk, chicken, 1 chopped onion, butter, salt to taste and cook until the chicken is done. Add the thick coconut milk, lemon juice and simmer for a few minutes.

Tempering: Fry the remaining chopped onion in ghee until brown. Add the garam masala powder and pour over the curry. Serve with roti, kori-roti, idli, dosas, appam or rice.

Another drier form from the same area where ghashi comes from, around Mengaluru

Chicken Sukka

Ingredients

1 large chicken, cut into small pieces

1 onion, chopped finely

A sprig curry leaves

A small lemon sized ball of tamarind

3 tablespoon ghee(clarified butter)

Salt to taste

Roast the following and powder:

6 kashmiri chillies( or dry red chillies)

1 tsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp methi(fenugreek) seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 onion

4 cloves garlic

1 small piece ginger

Blend to a coarse paste:

4 tablespoon coconut, shredded

1/2 tsp methi(fenugreek) seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric powder

3 cloves garlic

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons of the ghee in a non-stick pan and fry the powdered masala for about 3 minutes. Add the chicken pieces and fry on a high heat, stirring continuously. The chicken will now be well coated with the masala. Add about 1 cup of water and salt to taste. Mix well and cook on a low flame till the chicken is completely done. There should be no gravy left at this stage. Extract juice from the tamarind, by immersing it in hot water for about 10 minutes. Add this tamarind water to the chicken and the blended paste.

Mix well and fry the chicken and masala on a high heat for about 5 minutes. The water content reduces. Now turn to a lower heat and simmer till all moisture in the gravy is lost. In a sepasrate pan, heat 1 tablespoon of ghee and add the chopped onion and curry leaves. When the onions brown, add them to the chicken. Mix well.

http://mangalorean.com/recipes/recipes.php?recipeid=188

Slightly to the north of this Ghashi, which by the wy can be cooked with cauliflower + potatoes, green beans, hard-boiled eggs etc., comes this recipe:

Veena’s Chicken [from Another Subcontinent, already cited]

The chicken in made thusly: roast in coconut oil some whole coriander seeds, cumin seeds, methi [fenugreek] seeds, red chillies , and whole garam masala [* generally green cardamom, clove & cassia bark]. They used a bit of each spice from the pre-packaged whole garam-masala mix that they get in the shops for five rupees. To the fried masala, add some garlic and tamarind and pound the entire mix to a powder. Heat oil, pop some mustard seeds, add chopped onions and fry until they turn light brown. Add the chicken pieces and salt; cover and cook for a while. Then add the masala and fresh grated coconut (one coconut per kilo of chicken). Cook until chicken is done.

[* This will be dry dish with quite a bit of oil showing through].

[*aromatic bright red chillies without much heat called Byadgi from Mysore are often used in mixture with others. You can use a variety of unsmoked Hungarian sweet & hot paprika or Turkish red peppers or Korean kochu karu to add color & flavor instead of blind heat]

I hope you will explore these sites and discover more about authentic Indian regional cooking than the "Madras" curry of restaurants, one example of which is: