Chicken Chettinad

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Chicken Chettinad

Serves 6 as Main Dish.

• 4 chicken legs
  
• 2 large onions, roughly chopped
  
• 4 tsp tumeric
  
• 6 T oil
  
• 2 tsp corriander powder
  
• 1 T Kitchen King or other commercial masala
  
• 3 small tomatoes
  
• 4 whole star anise
  
• 8 whole cardamom
  
• 10 cloves
  
• 3 cinnamon sticks
  
• 1 T fennel seed
  
• 1 T cumin seed
  
• 1/2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
  
• 3 T ginger garlic paste
  
• 4 small green chilis, sliced thinly
  
• salt, to taste
  
• 1 c water
  

With a cleaver, cut the chicken legs into about 8 pieces each. Add most of the tumeric and half the oil, and mix well by hand. This mixture can be marinated for a few hours if you like.

Heat a small amount of the oil in a deep, heavy pot and brown the chicken in batches, pushing down on the skin to get it rendered. The pot will fill with chicken fat. Reserve the chicken.

In the pot of chicken fat, fry the chopped onions, the ginger garlic paste, the rest of the tumeric, the corriander powder, and the commercial masala. Cook, stirring, until the onions are a little soft and glossy, but are not quite done. Place the contents of the pot in a food processor with the tomatoes and puree until smooth.

Add the remaining small amount of oil to the pot and add the whole spices and nutmeg. Fry until a little smoke rises, then immediately add the water. Scrape the bottom of the pot to remove all of the browned bits, then add the chilis and the onion-tomato puree. Add salt until the sauce tastes fairly salty and the raw onion flavor is not apparent (adding the chicken and cooking it all down will dilute the saltiness).

Add back the reserved chicken and its juices. Simmer on a low flame for about 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Keywords: Main Dish, Easy, Chicken, Indian

( RG2105 )