Keralan Chicken Curry – Nadan Chicken Perelan

Serves: 4

Ingredients for the Chicken Marinade

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder (or mild chili powder)

Ingredients for the Curry

800 grams chicken on the bone, cut into medium pieces
2 tablespoons coconut oil or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
10 curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
300 grams shallots, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2” ginger piece, roughly chopped
1 heaped teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder (or mild chili powder)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
200 grams tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt to taste
200 ml water
1 teaspoon fennel powder
1/2 teaspoon coarsely crushed black pepper
2 tablespoon coriander leaves finely chopped

Ingredients for Tempering the Curry

1 tablespoon coconut oil or vegetable oil
5 curry leaves
2 green chilies, slit lengthwise
Handful of chopped fresh coconut (optional)

Directions

Place the chicken in a mixing bowl, pour over the ingredients for the marinade. Mix well, cover, and leave to marinade in the fridge for an hour or overnight.

Blend the garlic and ginger into a paste using a little bit of water, and set aside for now.
In a separate small bowl, combine the coriander powder, Kashmiri chili powder, and turmeric with 4 tablespoons of water, blend this into a paste and set it aside for now.

In a large pot on medium heat, get the oil hot and then add the mustard seeds, letting them crackle for 20 seconds or so. Then add in the curry leaves and fenugreek seeds, stir, and then quickly add in the onions. Fry for about 20 minutes until browned.
Mix in the ginger and garlic paste, stir and let this cook for a minute, then add in the spice paste. Stir again and let this fry for a minute or so.
Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes or so, making sure to stir well. Press the tomatoes with the back of your spoon so they release their juices and get softer. Now add the marinated chicken and fry for 8 – 10 minutes, making sure to stir so the chicken is well-coated.
Add in the vinegar and sugar, and season to taste. Cook for another 2 minutes or so and pour in the water. bring to a gentle boil and simmer over low flame for 18 – 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Next, add the fennel powder and black pepper. Simmer for another 5 minutes, then remove from heat and let rest.

In a frying pan, heat the oil for tempering over a medium heat. When the oil is hot, turn the heat off. Add the curry leaves, slit chilies and fresh coconut (if using). Stir well, and pour this over the chicken and sauce. Add the fresh coriander to garnish and serve.

My Notes

I only marinated the chicken for an hour or two because I made this recipe on a whim and didn’t prepare ahead. 🙂
I halved the recipe but only used 1/8 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder for the marinade. I left out the shallots entirely, and didn’t need to use a food processor since my chilies, ginger, and garlic were all frozen paste cubes. I only had brown mustard seeds, not black. Instead of the teaspoon of sugar I used maple syrup. I used 1 400ml can of chopped tomatoes, with the juice.
I also skipped the 1 tablespoon of vinegar that gets added to the gravy because I forgot. 🙂
The sauce was a bit watery for my preference so I made a paste of 2 tablespoon besan (gram flour / chickpea flour) and 4 tablespoons of water, and added it in at the end for the final 5 minutes of simmering to thicken the sauce a bit.

This turned our quite spicy because I think I forgot to halve the amount of Kashmiri chili powder for the gravy. Oops. 🙂