Chettinad Kari

Recipe for Chettinad Kari / Kozhi Kurma. Chicken Kuruma. Made with coconut. Tamilnadu style Chicken Korma. Serve with idli, dosai, aappam or chapati.

Here is the link to buy the chettinad cookbook by Meyyammai Murugappan and Visalakshi Ramaswamy. The Chettinad Cookbook (First Edition, 2014)

Here is the recipe to do a wonderful Chettinad Chicken Kurma. We need to make a fried paste out of fennel seeds, poppy seeds, bengal gram, green chillies, ginger, garlic, coconut and cashewnuts.

Take a heavy pan and add in 2 tablespoons of oil. Add in all the ingredients for the kurma masala paste at once. Fry till the coconut is browned and the mixture becomes very fragrant. Remove from heat and let it cool. Grind to a smooth paste in a blender. Add upto 2 cups of water while grinding the masala. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add in the bay leaf and cinnamon. Add in the onions and fry till the onions are soft.

Add in the chicken and fry for two minutes. Add in the tomatoes and the ground masala. Add in the salt too. Add 1 cup of boiling water to the pan.

Cover the pan and let it cook in low flame for 30 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes once to avoid scorching at the bottom. Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with idli , dosai, aappam or chapati.

For the Kurma Masala Paste

• 2 tablespoon Peanut Oil
• 100 grams Fresh Shredded Coconut ( half a big coconut)
• 2 teaspoon Fennel seeds (Sombu)
• 1 teaspoon Poppy Seeds (Khuskhus)
• 2 teaspoon Roasted Bengal Gram Dal (Pottu kadalai)
• 12 Green Chilllies
• 5 Cashewnuts
• 1 inch Ginger
• 10 cloves Garlic

Other Ingredients

• 2 teaspoon Peanut Oil
• 2 small pieces Cinnamon
• 1 Bay leaf
• 2 Onions, finely chopped
• 3 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 5 - 6 sprigs coriander leaves
• 500 grams Chicken with bone

For the Kurma Masala Paste

1. Take a heavy pan and add in 2 tablespoons of oil. Add in all the ingredients for the kurma masala paste at once. Fry till the coconut is browned and the mixture becomes very fragrant. Remove from heat and let it cool. Grind to a smooth paste in a blender. Add upto 2 cups of water while grinding the masala. Set aside.

For the Kurma

1. Heat oil in a pan and add in the bay leaf and cinnamon. Add in the onions and fry till the onions are soft.
2. Add in the chicken and fry for two minutes. Add in the tomatoes and the ground masala. Add in the salt too. Add 1 cup of boiling water to the pan.
3. Cover the pan and let it cook in low flame for 30 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes once to avoid scorching at the bottom. Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
4. Serve with idli, dosai, aappam or chapati.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins
• Category: Gravy, Side dish
• Cuisine: Tamilnadu, Chettinad, South Indian

For the Kurma Masala Paste

• 2 tablespoon Peanut Oil
• 100 grams Fresh Shredded Coconut ( half a big coconut)
• 2 teaspoon Fennel seeds (Sombu)
• 1 teaspoon Poppy Seeds (Khuskhus)
• 2 teaspoon Roasted Bengal Gram Dal (Pottu kadalai)
• 12 Green Chilllies
• 5 Cashewnuts
• 1 inch Ginger
• 10 cloves Garlic

Other Ingredients

• 2 teaspoon Peanut Oil
• 2 small pieces Cinnamon
• 1 Bay leaf
• 2 Onions, finely chopped
• 3 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 5 - 6 sprigs coriander leaves
• 500 grams Chicken with bone

For the Kurma Masala Paste

1. Take a heavy pan and add in 2 tablespoons of oil. Add in all the ingredients for the kurma masala paste at once. Fry till the coconut is browned and the mixture becomes very fragrant. Remove from heat and let it cool. Grind to a smooth paste in a blender. Add upto 2 cups of water while grinding the masala. Set aside.

For the Kurma

1. Heat oil in a pan and add in the bay leaf and cinnamon. Add in the onions and fry till the onions are soft.
2. Add in the chicken and fry for two minutes. Add in the tomatoes and the ground masala. Add in the salt too. Add 1 cup of boiling water to the pan.
3. Cover the pan and let it cook in low flame for 30 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes once to avoid scorching at the bottom. Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
4. Serve with idli, dosai, aappam or chapati.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins
• Category: Gravy, Side dish
• Cuisine: Tamilnadu, Chettinad, South Indian

Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/chettinad-chicken-kurma/

Tamil style Recipe for Crispy Chettinad Kuzhi Paniyaram. Using home made batter from scratch. With step by step pictures.

The nice crispy crunchy Kuzhi Paniyaram is a very popular dish in Tamilnadu. Its a favorite for many. Its made in a special mold called the paniyarakkal. The shape of the dish is very similar to that of the Japanese Takoyaki , Danish Æbleskiver-appleskives and Indonesian Pinyaram . The Paniyaram can be made sweet or savoury. This is a savoury version where a tempering is added to the idli/dosa batter. I like to use idli batter for this recipe and you can find the recipe for idli batter here.

Here is how to do Kuzhi Paniyaram. Soak Sago (“Tapioca Sago – Sabudana” is called ஜவ்வரிசி (javvarisi) in Tamil) in 1/2 cup of water for half an hour. Grind to a paste. Dont add any extra water while grinding. The water used for soaking should be enough. Set aside. Sago gives the Kuzhi Paniyaram a very crispy and crunchy bite.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan and add in the oil. When the oil is hot, add in the mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Add in the shallots and the green chillies. Its very traditional to use shallots for Kuzhi Paniyaram. But I have used onions today as I did not have shallots.

Fry the onions till they are soft. Once the onions are soft, add in the coconut. Fry for a minute. Remove off heat. Add in the onion coconut mixture and the sago paste to the dosa batter. I do not add extra salt as the idli batter already has salt. If you think you might need salt, add very little salt to the batter. Mix batter well. Set aside.

Heat the paniyaram pan / paniyarakkal until hot. Add 3/4 teaspoon of vegetable oil into each mold. Drop the batter to fill the mold. Cook for a minute. Then turn and cook on the other side. Turn again if necessary to make sure the paniyaram is evenly cooked on both sides and its nicely golden in colour.

The paniyaram is ready if it has become crispy and golden on both sides.

I like to serve Kuzhi paniyaram with a spicy kaara chutney or poondu kuzhambu . Here is the link to buy a sturdy Paniyaram pan / Paniyarakkal .

For the Batter

• 500 ml Idli Batter
• 3 tablespoon Sago/Sabudana/Javvarisi
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt (if required only)

For the tempering

• 2 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 20 shallots or one big onion, chopped fine
• 4 green chillies, chopped fine
• 3/4 cup fresh shredded coconut (half of one medium sized coconut)

For frying Kuzhi Paniyaram

• 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

1. Soak Sago in 1/2 cup of water for half an hour. Grind to a paste. Set aside.
2. Heat a heavy bottomed pan and add in the oil. When the oil is hot, add in the mustard seeds. Let it splutter. Add in the shallots and the green chillies. Fry the onions till they are soft.
3. Once the onions are soft, add in the coconut. Fry for a minute. Remove off heat. Add in the onion coconut mixture and the sago paste to the idli/dosa batter. Add salt if required.
4. Heat the paniyaram pan / paniyarakkal until hot. Add 3/4 teaspoon of vegetable oil into each mold. Drop the batter to fill the mold. Cook for a minute. Then turn and cook on the other side. Turn again if necessary to make sure the paniyaram is evenly cooked on both sides and its nicely golden in colour.
5. The paniyaram is ready if it has become crispy and golden on both sides.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Category: Breakfast
• Cuisine: South Indian, Tamilnadu