Chettinad Chicken
Tangy South Indian Chicken
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Heat
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Serves
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Dietary Info
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Cook 40 mins
Hari says
A lovely flavoursome chicken curry dish from Tamil Nadu in South India. Chettinad Chicken is made by toasting a number of spices with coconut and producing an aromatic masala that has a slight aniseed scent. If you think it will be to fiery for you just reduce the number of chillies. Traditionally it is served with Dosa or Appams but it is just as good with a flaky Parathas and even plain boiled rice.
- Ingredients
- Method
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 3 dry red chillies
- 3cm piece of cinnamon
- 2 cardamom pods
- 3 cloves
- 50g grated coconut
- 2 tsp ginger
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 tbsp oil
- 10 curry leaves
- 2 onions sliced finely
- 1 star anise
- 2 tomatoes
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 8 chicken thighs, skinned
- salt to taste
- 2 limes
- handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Method
- Heat a heavy pan on a gentle heat and roast the poppy, coriander, cumin and fennel seeds, dry red chillies, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and coconut for 3-4 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.
- Once cooled, grind to a fine powder in a spice grinder.
- Crush the garlic and ginger in a pestle and mortar and keep aside.
- In a large pan, heat the oil and add the curry leaves. When they stop spluttering, add the sliced onions and fry till they are light brown then add the crushed garlic and ginger.
- Add the ground spices and star anise and fry for a minute before adding a splash of water.
- Meanwhile chop and add the tomatoes, turmeric, salt and stir in the chilli powder.
- Add the chicken, cover and leave to simmer on the lowest setting until it is tender about 25 minutes.
- Once the chicken is cooked through squeeze in the lime juice and remove from the heat.
- Throw in the fresh coriander leaves and serve.
Nutritional information
| Typical values* | per Serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 145 |
| Fat (g) | 11 |
| of which saturates (g) | 3.4 |
| Carbohydrates (g) | 3.1 |
| of which sugars (g) | 2.1 |
| Fibre (g) | 1.1 |
| Protein (g) | 8.7 |
| Salt (mg) | 0.09 |
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Comments
Comments (54)
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Hari Ghotra
A cast iron casserole is always great - staub or le crueset. Enjoy!
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Kevin
Hi Hari. Just tried your Chettinad Chicken, but I used 1 very large chicken breast and same equivalent of mushrooms, absolutely delicious.-
Hari Ghotra
Thats fantastic Kevin - so glad you loved it!
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Suzanne F
I frequently prepare different Goa fish and chaat recipes and so I have most of the required ingredients on hand. I do not eat chicken but I prepared this recipe with tilapia instead. I did not, unfortunately, have curry leaves either and I dislike star anise. I omitted most of the fennel and the star anise and added a bit extra water and some butter to make up for the chicken fat in the pan. I stewed the sauce covered for about 9 minutes and the buried the fish in the sauce and cooked it for about 12 minuted covered. I did not add the lime juice but my sauce came out a bit tangy from the tomatoes. It was absolutely delicious! I can't wait to try it with the curry leaves.-
Hari Ghotra
Glad you enjoyed it with your tweaks Suzanne.
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Tim
Hi Hari , I made this a couple of weeks ago and it was fab but I'm wondering about the ginger the ingredients suggest 2 tsp of ginger powder but the method seems to suggest fresh , which is better . Last time I used powder and it was great but wondered if fresh was even better-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Tim Yes it should be fresh ginger, its always fresh unless started otherwise. I am really pleased you tried it and loved the recipe. Please do take pictures and share them with me on my app here: https://hari.is/2P5rXbk Thanks so much and I hope that helps. Hari
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Deborah
Hi Hari,
I’ve been following your recipes for quite a while now and everything I’ve cooked has been amazing. Last week I cooked the chettinad chicken and my husband said it was the best Indian meal he’d ever had. The depth of flavour was amazing. Definitely my favourite so far. I used chicken breast so ended up adding half a tin of chopped tomatoes as there was no juice from the chicken as if I’d used the thighs. Thank you so much for sharing!
Deborah-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Deborah
I am really pleased to read this - yes you have to treat breast differently but you seem to have got that sorted. Have you downloaded my free app? I would love to see the dishes you cook so please post them on the app here is the link https://hari.is/2P5rXbk
Thanks so much
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Anne
Hi Hari,
Just working thru your fabulous recipes ( just had your chicken passanda and red lentil dhal, absolutely delicious) and am looking to make this next. Question being, is the coconut of the desiccated variety or fresh?
In anticipation
Anne-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Anne So great to hear that you are enjoying the recipes. You can use desiccated for this one - that is what I have in my curry kits. Let me know how it goes. Have you downloaded my free app because I would love to see pictures of the dishes you cook. Here is the link https://hari.is/2P5rXbk thanks so much Hari
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Simon
Hi Hari,
What a great recipe! Thank you for sharing. I substituted the dried chillies for a teaspoon of crushed chillies, as the three chillies in the recipe sounded a bit hot! ? It was DELICIOUS!!! I’m about to trawl your website and see what else you’ve got up your sleeve! Thanks again!-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Simon that is fantastic - yes it can be hot this one so I am glad you tweaked it to suit you. I would love to see the dishes you cook so please download my free app and post pictures of the dishes you cook. The community on the app would love to see r=them too - here is the link https://hari.is/2P5rXbk Thanks so much and let me know what you try next. Thanks Hari
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Shams
Hi Hari,
I am a fan of south Indian food. I will try this recipe on my mom birthday. I am allergic to tomatoes. If I ignore it, is it test well?-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Shams Say Happy Birthday to mom! You can roast some peppers and blend to a puree and use those instead of tomatoes if you want or just use some coconut cream instead. I hope that helps Hari
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Lidice Serra
I invited some friends for dinner and made this dish for the first time and it was absolutely delicious!-
Hari Ghotra
Brilliant!! So happy to hear this, thanks so much for trying the recipe.
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Stephen
Hi Hari,
I love you recipes and style. If I was making this in the slow cooker how much liquid would I need to add?
Thanks
Stephen-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Stephen - This recipe is in the cook book. If using meat on the bone or thigh then none lots of moisture will come from the meat. Hope that helps Thanks Hari
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Leone
Going to try this! I normally use boneless thighs but I'm assuming this recipe is for on the bone. I recently gave up eating meat and will try this recipe using raw Tiger prawns and adding them five mins before the end of the simmering time. Will also try with chicken as my husband and son eat meat.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Leone cant wait to see your dishes - do let me know what you think and please share your pictures on the app too. Hope you love it!
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Colin
This (like all your recipes) is absolutely amazing!! I've saved a fortune on takeaways since I found your site,
and on the rare occasions where I do order a takeaway I'm always disappointed - the curries are never as fresh or as flavorsome as the ones I've made myself from your recipes.
One thing I do for the Chettinad Chicken is I add a tablespoon of extra hot curry powder, and I'm quite liberal with birds eye chillis in the spice mix - it makes it fiery which is how I like it! :)-
Hari Ghotra
Wow Colin - thanks so much for trying the dishes and i'm so pleased you are no cooking them fresh and loving the results!! All my recipes are about giving you the basics then adding your own touches to make them your own. So happy to read this today! Thanks Hari
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Rob
Delicious Hari!
Our Friday nights are always Hari nights :-)-
Hari Ghotra
High five Rob - Thats fantastic to hear!
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Victoria
Hi, can I use tinned chopped tomatoes? Would one tin be enough? Many thanks-
Hari Ghotra
Yep that should be enough!
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Jackie Porter
Hi Hari!
I am SO looking forward to trying this recipe - it will be my first from your site and judging by all the fantastic reviews, it most certainly won't be my last!
Just a small query... I have only got WHITE poppy seeds - will this make a difference, or should I pop out and get some black ones? And I have cardamom seeds rather than the pods - is that OK, as long as I don't go overboard with them?
Thanks!
Jackie-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Jackie Do let me know how it comes out. It is a lovely dish. The poppy seeds should be white so thats fine. With the cardamom be careful not to overpower the dish so just half a tsp or something depending on how much you are making. looking forward to hearing your thoughts Hari
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Stuart hughes
Hi hari can i use bottled lime juice in currys instead of fresh ?-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Stuart yes it that's what you have just use about a tablespoon. Hope that helps Hari
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Rob
Had a read through lots of recipes on your website today. You have a great site and it really made me want to try out one of your recipes. I started with this one because it intrigued me - I have never used poppy seeds in Indian cookery and along with the coconut it sounded lovely. I have to say the result was fantastic, we have just finished and the whole family loved it.
I followed the recipe pretty much as is, except I have no curry leaves (and have not been able to find anywhere to get them fresh). I did add a bit more water than suggested as I thought it would be too dry, but I should have trusted you - I ended up cooking for a while longer to reduce down the extra liquid that I had added! I will totally trust you when I do the next recipe from your page!
Many thanks Hari-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Rob It's just so great to hear comments thank you for taking the time to give me some feedback. Really happy to hear that you and your family enjoyed the Chettinad chicken - it's really flavoursome isn't it. Looking forward to hearing what you think of the next dish you try so do let me know. Thanks so much for using the website Hari.
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Greg Upton
Another excellent curry, thank you once again.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Greg Thanks so much for giving this a go - glad you enjoyed it.
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Jenny
Hi Hari
If using dried curry leaves do I add with the dry spices and blitz or add when you would put the fresh ones in and leave them whole? Thanks.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Jenny I would add them as you would add the fresh ones and leave them whole. Let me know it comes out! Hope that helps. Hari
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Michael
Hi Hari, that was a delicious curry. Thank you very much for another great recipe.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Michael that's great!! Glad you loved this one and thanks so much for leaving a comment. I hope you star rated the dish too. Let me know what you try next time. Hari
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Michael
Hi Hari, would it be ok if I used dried curry leaves instead of fresh?
Thanks
Michael-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Michael Yes if that's what you have that fine. The fresh ones do give a much better flavour if you can get hold of them. Let me know how you get on. Thanks
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Danny
Just wanted to thank you for such an amazing recipe. My family and I agreed it was the nicest bit of food I've ever cooked, so great success. I've now gone and bought lots of spices in bulk and I will be cooking many more of your dishes.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Danny Thank you so much for your comment - It's so amazing to hear from you guys when you have cooked a dish and loved it and I so pleased that you will be cooking more from my site. Please do follow me on social media and send pictures of your dishes as I love to see your creations. Thanks for leaving a comment and I hope to hear lots more from you on how you have used some of those lovely spices. Happy cooking Hari
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Graeme
Hi, silly question! When do you add the grated coconut? I can't find that in the method.-
Hari Ghotra
Hi Graeme No worries -it's in step one you toast the spices and coconut in a pan then blitz it all to a powder in a grinder. Does that help? Thanks Hari
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Hari Ghotra
Hi Vinoth
That's amazing to hear! Thank you so much for taking the time to drop me a note. Really pleased you enjoyed the dish and that it brought back some happy memories! Do let me know if you try anything else. Thanks Hari -
Vinoth
I cooked this dish this afternoon. While cooking when I added the grounded spices I felt the aroma of chettinad chicken I had in hotel. At that time itself I realized that the dish is going be awesome(I am not messing it). The end product was really good. Thanks -
Hari Ghotra
Wow you sound like you cooked up a huge feast! Well done Neil and thank you for trying this dish - I'm really pleased it went so well, I love the flavours of this one too. Do let me know what's on the menu next week. Cheers Hari -
Neil B
Yet another marvellous recipe - far fresher and tastier than any takeaway curry. It seemed a little hot during cooking, but some of the heat disapated through the cooking process and adding the lime at the end produced a fantastic medium hot and tangy curry. Served with pilau, naan, mint & corriander chutney, yoghurt & mint sauce. This is the 5th different recipe of yours I've tried - every one's been exceptional - and I'm looking forward to trying another next week. -
Hari Ghotra
Hi Catherine - you certainly can! -
Catherine
Hi Hari. Can I use desiccated coconut instead of grated coconut? -
Hari Ghotra
Amazing!! Glad you liked this lovely dish. -
Nigel
Hello Hari,
I cooked this last night and the dish was excellent, thank you. I had a moment of doubt after I added the chicken thinking that the whole dish was too dry, even allowing for liquid to come from the tomatoes and chicken. After 10 minutes I checked and added a splash of recently boiled water, but after checking again after a further 10 minutes there was more liquid than I had put in. I guess I should have trusted you and held my nerve.
The dish had a nice bite to it from both the chilli and the limes. Thoroughly recommended.
Julie
I'm looking for a good quality cooking pot and was wondering what brand you would reccomend please? I have an induction hob .
Kind regards
Julie xxx
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