Chettinad Spicy Chicken

Need a spicy chicken recipe that goes excellent with rice & all tiffin varieties.......Stop here.... Read below............Proceed to the kitchen.

Ingredients

Chicken - 1/2 kg (cut into small bite - sized pieces)

Ginger - 2 inch piece

Garlic - 6 pods

Green chilli - 2

Gingelly oil (Nallenai) - 3 sp

Cinnamon (Pattai) - 1 inch piece - 4 Nos.

Cardamom (Elachi / Elakkai) - 3 Nos.

Cloves (Kirambhu) - 5 Nos.

Bayleaf - 1 (medium sized)
Whole Pepper (slightly crushed) - 1/2 sp

Big onion (very finely chopped) - 1 large

Tomato - 3 (very finely chopped)

Coriander powder - 1 sp

Red chilli powder - 3/4 sp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 sp

Garam masala powder - 1/2 sp

Chicken masala powder -3/4 sp (optional)

Salt - To taste

Method

1. Cut the chicken into small pieces (so that the masala gets incorporated into it), wash throughly and keep aside.
2. Grind ginger, garlic and green chillies to a fine paste adding necessary water.
3. In a pressure cooker under medium heat, add oil.
4. When oil is bubbling hot, add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, bay leaf and crushed pepper.
5. When these start to splutter, add onions (very finely chopped so that it gets nicely fried).
6. When the onions are deep fried but not brown, add the tomatoes.
7. Fry well till the tomatoes turn mushy. (make sure the onion & tomatoes got mixed with eachother and oil starts oozing out)
8. To this add the grind paste and fry for another 3 min till the raw flavor goes off.
9. To this, add the the masala powders and salt. Fry for another 2 min in a low - med heat. Don't burn.
10. Add the chicken pieces and mix them together with the whole masala.
11. Add sufficient water (this quantity of water determines the final gravy consistency. So care needs to be taken).
12. Check for salt & chilli powder.
13. Close the cooker & cook in a medium heat for  5 - 8 whistles.
14. Serve with white rice / Idli / Dosa / Chappati / Parotta.

Note

1. The taste of this recipe lies in ' how patiently the ingredients are fried in a medium heat'.
2. Never burn the ingredients while frying.
3. Pepper can be added as whole (20 Nos.) instead of crushed.
4. Chicken oozes out lots of oil. So better check on the oil added.
5. Tastes excellent when the gravy thickens. So if found too watery, simmer (don't boil) in a low - medium heat till the required consistency is reached.

Biryani

A traditional, mouth-watering rice variety of the festival season.........Biryani. This can be found as the main food on the table on all ocassions.....but, now-a-days, people crave for biryani on regular weekdays / weekends. The spicy effect & the beautiful aroma of biryani.......yummy yummy!!!!

                    A single recipe ............ make mutton biryani / chicken biryani / vegetable biryani / mushroom biryani whenever you feel like eating biryani.

Ingredients

Non - veg / veg main ingredient - REFER Table below

Ginger - 2 inch piece

Garlic - 12 pods

Fennel(perunjeeragam) - 3/4 sp

Green chilli - 4/5

Coriander powder - 1 sp

Red chilli powder - 1/2 sp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 sp

Garam masala powder - 3/4 sp

Mutton masala powder (can be added to all biryani varieties) -1/2 sp (optional)

Salt - 3/4 sp (only for Non - veg Biryani)

Ghee - 5 to 8 sp

Cinnamon (Pattai) - 1 inch piece - 4 Nos.

Cardamom (Elachi / Elakkai) - 3 Nos.

Cloves (Kirambhu) - 5 Nos.

Bayleaf - 1 (medium sized)

Big onion (sliced lengthwise) - 1 large

Tomato - 3 (very finely chopped)

Coriander leaves (chopped) - 1 handful

Mint leaves (chopped) - 1/2 handful

Basmati Rice - 2 cups

Water - 3 cups (for 1 cup basmati rice, add 1 1/2 cups of water )

Salt - To taste

Lemon Juice - few drops (optional)

Varieties

Name of the Biryani	Main Ingredient	Quantity	Special conditions
Mutton Biryani	Mutton	½ - ¾ kg	Cut into big pieces. Previously cooked with all masalas before adding
Chicken Biryani	Chicken	½ - ¾ kg	Cut into big pieces. Previously cooked with all masalas before adding
Vegetable Biryani	Carrot, Beans, Peas / Green peas, Potato, Cauliflower, Mushroom (optional), Kondakadalai / mochakottai (optional)	Carrot – 2 Nos. Beans - 10  Peas / Green peas – 1 handful Potato - 2 Cauliflower – 10 florets Mushroom – 1 handful (chopped) Kondakadalai  - ½ handful  Mochakottai -  ½ handful	Peas, Kondakadalai and mochakottai should be soaked in water overnight and pressure cooked. Other veges can be added directly.
Mushroom Biryani	Mushroom	½ - ¾ kg	Cut into big pieces. Can be added directly

Method

Mutton / Chicken biryani

1. Cut the mutton / chicken into large pieces, wash throughly and keep aside.
2. Grind ginger, garlic, fennel and green chillies to a fine paste adding necessary water.
3. Add the mutton / chicken pieces to the pressure cooker.
4. To this add the grind paste, all the masala powders, the 3/4 sp salt and 1 cup water. Mix throughly.
5. Let this be cooked in a medium heat till the mutton / chicken is well cooked but not mashed.
6. In a pressure cooker under medium heat, add ghee.
7. When ghee is bubbling hot, add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves & bay leaf.
8. When these whole garam masala items start to splutter, add onions.
9. When the onions are deep fried but not brown, add the tomatoes.
10. Fry well till the tomatoes turn mushy.
11. To this add the coriander and mint leaves, fry for another 3 min till the nice aroma of the leaves come out.
12. To this, add the cooked mutton / chicken along with the masalas and the water.
13. Wash the basmati rice and add to the pressure cooker along with the balance 2 cups of water.
14. Add necessary salt and red chilli powder if required(optional).
15. Add a few drops of lemon juice.(may be 1/4 th of a lemon)
16. When the rice begins to boil, close the cooker and cook for 2 whistles in a medium heat.
17. Once the steam gets released, very gently loosen the biryani with a scoop.
18. Serve with onion or cucumber raita / chicken fry.

Chicken Biryani

Vegetable / Mushroom biryani

1. Cut the vegetables / mushroom into bite - sized pieces, wash throughly and keep aside.
2. Grind ginger, garlic, fennel and green chillies to a fine paste adding necessary water.
3. In a pressure cooker under medium heat, add ghee.
4. When ghee is bubbling hot, add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves & bay leaf.
5. When these whole garam masala items start to splutter, add onions.
6. When the onions are deep fried but not brown, add the tomatoes.
7. Fry well till the tomatoes turn mushy.
8. To this add the coriander and mint leaves, fry for another 3 min till the nice aroma of the leaves come out.
9. To this, add the vegetables / mushroom along with the masala powders, grind paste and salt.
10. Wash the basmati rice and add to the pressure cooker along with the 3 cups of water.
11. Add necessary salt and red chilli powder, if required. (optional).
12. Add a few drops of lemon juice.(may be 1/4 th of a lemon)
13. When the rice begins to boil, close the cooker and cook for 2 whistles in a medium heat.
14. Once the steam gets released, very gently loosen the biryani with a scoop.
15. Serve with onion or cucumber raita / chicken fry.

Mushroom Biryani

Note

1. The onions & tomatoes should be well fried. Here lies a secret for a tasty biryani. Else they will appear scattered in the biryani which will not be nice to eat. 
2. Taste of biryani also depends on the quality of mutton / chicken used. Tastes better with fresh than frozen meat........and better with young goat than matured daddy / mommy goats.
3. Make sure the whole garam masala splutters.
4. Masala powders can be increased / decreased depending upon the need for a more / less spicier biryani.

Kathirikai Kara Kuzhambhu

Ingredients

Brinjal - 2
Tamarind - 1 pod
Tomato - 1
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 3 pods
Red chillies - 2
Cumin - 1/4 sp
Big onion - 1/2 (or) equivalent small onions
Coriander powder - 3/4 sp
Red chilli powder - 1/4 sp
Turmeric powder - less than 1/4 sp
Salt - To taste
Seasoning:
Oil - 3 sp
Mustard - 1/4 sp
Urad dhal - 1/4 sp
Onion - 2 sp
Curry leaves - 10 Nos.

Method

1. Grind tomato, red chillies, cumin, ginger & garlic to a fine paste.
2. To this, add big onion and grind to a fine paste.
3. Soak tamarind in hot water for 10 min and extract tamarind juice.
4. Cut the brinjal into big bite - sized pieces.
5. Do the seasoning. Add the brinjal and let this fry in the oil at a medium heat till half cooked.
6. Add the grind masala, tamarind extract, masala powders and salt.
7. Let this simmer in a low - medium heat till the required consistency is reached.
8. Serve with white rice.

Sambhar

Sambhar is a traditional recipe prepared all over TamilNadu, but with very slight modifications. The following sambhar recipe was taught to me by the hubby (since I know nothing about cooking) the very first day I entered my kitchen. Since then, it has become very popular among our guests and some of our friends crave for this sambhar.Easy to make........lovable to eat........ dish.

Ingredients

Toor Dhal - 1 handful
Garlic - 5 pods
Hing - 1/4 sp
Tamarind - 1 1/2 pods
Choice of vegetables - REFER Table below
Tomato - 1
Small onions - 5
Sambhar powder (Aachi / Sakthi) - 1 1/2 to 2 sp
Coriander leaves - To garnish
Salt - To taste
Seasoning:
Oil - 3 sp
Mustard - 1/4 sp
Urad dhal - 1/4 sp
Red chilli - 1 (optional)
Onion - 2 sp
Curry leaves - 10 Nos.

Method

1. Soak tamarind in hot water and extract the tamarind juice.
2. Add toor dhal, garlic and hing  to a pressure cooker along with water sufficient enough to fully cover the ingredients.
3. Cook for 5 whistles till the ingredients are well cooked.
4. Mash them with a 'mathu' so that the dhal is totally mashed.
5. Add the tamarind juice, vegetables of choice (REFER BELOW), tomato, sambhar powder and salt to the mashed items in the pressure cooker with necessary water.
6. Do the seasoning and add to the cooker.
7. Let this boil in a medium heat for about 15 min till the vegetables are cooked.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves.
9. Serve with white rice. Can be taken with dosa also.

Varieties

Name of the Sambhar	Basic vegetable / Ingredient	How to add
Katharikai Sambhar	Brinjal - 3 Nos.	Cut into big pieces & add as such
Urulaikilangu Sambhar	Potato - 2 Nos. medium sized	Cut into big pieces & add as such
Vendaikkai Sambhar	Okra (Ladys finger) - 10 Nos.	Cut into big pieces, dry roast in low heat for 5 min & add
Mullangi Sambhar	Radish - 1 No. medium sized	Cut into thin round slices, dry roast in low heat for 5 min & add
Mochakottai Sambhar	Mochakottai - 1/2 cup	Soak in water overnight, pressure cook & add
Mochakottai Katharikai Sambhar	Mochakottai - 1/4 cup Brinjal – 1 No	Soak mochakottai in water overnight, pressure cook & add. Cut brinjal into big pieces & add as such
Kadhamba Sambhar	Brinjal – 1 Potato – 1 Carrot – 2 (medium) Beans - 5	Cut into big pieces & add as such
Murungaikai Sambhar	Drumstick - 2	Cut into finger lengths & add as such

Kadhamba Sambhar

Urulaikilangu Sambhar

Kathirikai Sambhar

Note

1. Never prepare the sambhar too thick or too watery.
2. Sambhar powder can be replaced by (1 sp coriander powder + 1/ 2 sp red chilli powder + 1/4 sp turmeric powder ). But the taste will be little different compared to using sambhar powder.
3. Garlic is pressure cooked along with toor dhal to ensure even distribution of the garlic, so that everybody gets the garlic effect to avoid any gastric troubles. Also the mashed garlic gives a nice texture to the sambhar.

Paruppu Kuzhambhu

Ask anyone from any location in / around Tirunelveli about paruppu kuzhambhu...... they will say 'wow..... I love that'. Atleast one person per house will be called as 'paruppu chatti' because they love to eat and drink it all thro' the day. Such an amazing, mouthwatering yet, easy to prepare kuzhambhu. Add in more quantities to rice and taste.....With less tamarind add to dosa and eat.......With no tamarind add to idly and say 'hmmm  hmmm yummy'. Idli / dosa easily gets soaked in this kuzhambhu and hence can be given to infants / kids very easily.

Ingredients

Toor Dhal - 1 handful
Brinjal - 2 (cut to bite size pieces)
Drumstick - 1 (optional)
Tomato - 1 (cut to bite size pieces)
Small onions - 5 to 10 Nos.
Garlic pods - 5
Hing (Asafoetida) - 1/4 sp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 sp
Coconut - 1/8th of a whole coconut
Cumin - 1/4 sp
Green chilli - 2
Tamarind - 1 1/2 pods
Seasoning:
Oil - 3 sp
Mustard - 1/4 sp
Urad dhal - 1/4 sp
Red chilli - 1 (optional)
Onion - 2 sp
Curry leaves - 10 Nos.
Coriander leaves - To garnish
Salt - To taste

Method

1. Soak tamarind in hot water and extract the tamarind juice.
2. Grind coconut, cumin and green chillies to a fine paste adding sufficient water.
3. Add toor dhal, brinjal, drumstick, tomato, small onions, garlic, hing and turmeric powder to a pressure cooker along with water sufficient enough to fully cover the ingredients.
4. Cook for 5 whistles till the ingredients are well cooked.
5. Mash them with a 'mathu' so that all the vegetables are totally mashed and can't be separated.
6. Add the tamarind juice, grind masala, salt to the mashed items in the pressure cooker with necessary water.
7. Do the seasoning and add to the cooker.
8. Let this boil in a medium heat for 5 - 7 min (not more than that.... the taste will change) till the masala is well cooked.
9. Garnish with coriander leaves.
10. Serve with white rice. Normally this kuzhambhu is added in more quantities to rice...which will taste even better.

Note

1. This kuzhambhu should never be in a thick consistency. It should be kind of little watery.
2. Never boil the kuzhambhu for an increased time. This will totally spoil the taste of the kuzhambhu.
3. Some people boil the kuzhambhu for just 2 min. This can also be done if you don't feel that the kuzhambhu has a raw flavour.
4. The tamarind can be reduced to 3/4th pod or totally avoided, and the kuzhambhu can be served with idly / dosa.
5. In general, prepare the kuzhambhu in large quantities w/o tamarind, serve for breakfast. Then add tamarind juice, allow it to boil for 3 min and serve with rice.

Tips

1. The toor dhal in this recipe may cause gastric troubles in some people. This can be avoided by adding more garlic pods and hing to the kuzhambhu.
2. Else, after lunch, eat some hing along with a glass of warm water.

Pepper (Milagu) Kuzhambhu

Ingredients

Whole peppercorns - 1/ 4 (handful)
Tamarind - 1 pod
Coconut - 1/8 of a whole coconut
Red chillies - 2
Cumin (Jeera) - 1/2 sp
Big onion - 1/2
Coriander powder - 1/2 sp
Red chilli powder - 1/4 sp
Turmeric powder - less than 1/4 sp
Salt - To taste
Tomato - 1
Seasoning:
Oil - 3 sp
Mustard - 1/4 sp
Urad dhal - 1/4 sp
Onion - 2 sp
Curry leaves - 10 Nos.

Method

1. Grind coconut, red chillies, cumin to a fine paste adding necessary water.
2. To this, add onion and again grind to a fine paste.
3. Soak the tamarind in hot water for 10 min and extract the tamarind juice.
4. Add oil to a pan under medium heat and do the seasoning.
5. Add whole pepper (at the same time of adding onions) and fry it till it is starts to splutter & burst.
6. By the time the onions turn brown, the pepper will start bursting out. (Be careful not to burn yourself because of the bursting peppercorns.) 
7. To this add the grind masala, tamarind extract, the masala powders, tomato and salt with necessary water.
8. Simmer to get a thick consistency.
9. Serve with white rice.

Note

1. Even with little kuzhambhu, lots of rice can be eaten. So take utmost care with the quantity of coconut and tamarind.
2. If the peppercorns are preferred to be eaten along with rice, make sure not to add too much red chilli powder, since pepper will be spicy hot by itself.

Poondu Kuzhambhu

Call this poondu kuzhambhu (or) vengaya kuzhambhu (or) vendhaya kuzhambhu since this kuzhambhu contains all these three as main ingredients. This can be named any one of the three varieties depending upon which of the three ingredients is added in additional quantities.

Ingredients

Gingelly oil - 3 sp
Fenugreek seeds (vendhayam) - 1/2 sp
Garlic - 1 handful (each pod cut into half )
Small onions - 1 handful (each onion cut into half)
Tamarind - 1 1/2 pods
Coconut - 1/4 of a whole coconut
Red chillies - 2
Cumin - 1/4 sp
Big onion - 1/2 (or) equivalent small onions
Coriander powder - 1 sp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 sp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 sp
Salt - To taste
Tomato - 1 / 2
Seasoning:
Oil - 3 sp
Mustard - 1/4 sp
Urad dhal - 1/4 sp
Onion - 2 sp
Curry leaves - 10 Nos.

Method

1. Grind coconut, red chillies and cumin to a fine paste along with necessary water.
2. To this, add big onion and grind to a fine paste.
3. Soak tamarind in hot water for 10 min and extract tamarind juice.
4. Heat gingelly oil in a pan.When the oil is hot, add fenugreek seeds.
5. When the fenugreek seeds start to splutter, add the garlic & small onions and fry this in a medium heat.
6. When the garlic & onions start to brown, add the grind masala, tamarind extract, the masala powders,salt and tomato (cut into four) along with necessary water to cook the masala.
7. When the kuzhambhu is 3/4th done, do the seasoning and add to the kuzhambhu.
8. Let this simmer for about 5 - 10 min in a low heat till the required consistency is reached.
9. Serve with white rice. Can also be taken with idli / dosa occasionally.

Frying the garlic & onions till they start to brown

Note

1. The more the garlic & small onions are fried in the oil, the more tastier will be the kuzhambhu.
2. Never brown the garlic and onions.
3. The small onions can be replaced by equal quantity of big onion...but the kuzhambhu may taste a bit sweet because of the big onion.

Thakkali (Tomato) Kuzhambhu

Ingredients
Coconut - 1/4 of a whole coconut
Red chillies - 2
Fennel (perunjeeragam) - 1/4 sp
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Big onion - 1/2 (or) equivalent small onions
Coriander powder - 3/4 sp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 sp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 sp
Salt - To taste
Tomato - 4
Seasoning:
Oil - 3 sp
Mustard - 1/4 sp
Urad dhal - 1/4 sp
Onion - 2 sp
Curry leaves - 10 Nos.

Method

1. Grind coconut, red chillies, fennel and ginger to a fine paste along with necessary water.
2. To this, add big onion and grind to a fine paste.
3. Add the grind masala, the masala powders,salt and tomatoes (cut into four) along with necessary water to cook the masala.
4. When the kuzhambhu is 3/4th done, do the seasoning and add to the kuzhambhu.
5.  Let this simmer for about 5 - 10 min in a low heat till the required consistency is reached.
6. Serve with white rice. Can also be taken with idli / dosa occasionally.

Note

1. The main differences between thakkali kuzhambhu and other puli kuzhambhu varieties are:No tamarind here. The sourness of tamarind is replaced here by adding more number of tomatoes.Cumin is replaced by fennel.Ginger is added which totally changes the taste of the kuzhambhu from other varieties.