Recipe Review - Chicken Chettinad

As I mentioned in my other blog, one of my "resolutions" this year is to try a recipe from each of my many cookbooks. I have a good number of Indian/South Asian cookbooks in my collection, most of which just get read like novels like my other cookbooks. I've had The Everything Indian Cookbook, by Monica Bhide for about a year and have yet to cook anything out of it. Until today.

Let me first make a small confession: I’ve never eaten Chicken Chettinad before. So why did I decide to try the recipe today? I had fresh curry leaves I’d bought a few days back, I had the rest of the ingredients, and the recipe didn’t seem too complicated. And I didn’t want to try a recipe for something I’d eaten before. What’s the point of experimenting if you’re just going to make and eat the same things?

So that being said, I don’t know if this is an authentic recipe or if it’s been simplified for Western tastes.

Chicken Chettinad

Adapted from The Everything Indian Cookbook, by Monica Bhide

Ingredients:

3 tsp black peppercorns, roughly pounded

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garlic paste

1 dried red chili, roughly pounded

½ cup plain nonfat yogurt

2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

8 fresh curry leaves

2 small onions, chopped

2 small tomatoes, chopped

¼ tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

½ cup water

Combine peppercorns, ginger, garlic, red chili, and yogurt in a bowl. Add the chicken, combining thoroughly with marinade.

Heat the vegetable oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the curry leaves, then add the onions once the leaves start sizzling. Sauté until the onions begin to brown.

Add the tomatoes and cook until the oil begins separating from sides of the tomato-onion mix. Add the turmeric and salt.

Add the chicken and marinade and cook for 6-8 minutes. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until the chicken is done, about 15-20 minutes.

Verdict? Thumbs-up from Mr. Spice and thumbs-up from me.