This is my dads chicken masala recipe. He doesn’t remember now (he is in his seventies) as to how and from whom he learnt this chicken masala recipe but has been doing it for years now. He uses finely chopped boneless chicken for this recipe. Those days when we were young, he would first cook the chicken with the bone in water. Then, he would remove the meat from the bone and cut it into small pieces and add it to the curry. But these days, we just use boneless chicken breast. This is one very flavorful curry. My kid loves coconut based curries and I have never had any leftovers. This one is a dynamite. Here is how to do Chicken Masala Gravy Coimbatore Style.
Cut the boneless chicken into very small pieces and add in the salt, pepper, ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder. Mix well to combine. Set aside. Let it marinate briefly for 5-10 minutes.
we will now make a masala powder for the curry. Dry roasting of spices brings out the essential oil in the spices and flavors the chicken and makes it so aromatic. Add in all the spices listed under “masala powder” to a heavy pan and dry roast on a low flame until very fragrant and the pepper starts to pop. Remove from heat and allow it to cool completely. Grind the mixture in the mixie to make a powder. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add in the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, cashews and the curry leaves. Saute for a minute on medium flame. Add in the onions and fry till they are soft. About 3-4 minutes. Add in the tomatoes. Fry for a couple of minutes.
Add in the chicken mixture and the ground masala powder. Saute for 7-8 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked and dry.
Add in the coconut milk and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves. If using fresh coconut milk, Here is the recipe . Use thick coconut milk for this recipe.
Serve hot with Biryani or Coconut milk rice.
Spices For the Masala Powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (sombu)
- 2 dried red chilli
- 2 teaspoon coriander seeds
For marinating chicken
- 250 grams boneless chicken breast, cut into small pieces
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
Other Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 stick cinnamon, 2 inches
- 2 cardamom
- 2 cloves
- 3 sprigs curry leaves
- 5 - 6 cashewnuts
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tomato chopped
- 1 cup coconut milk (thick)
- 3 sprigs coriander leaves, chopped
- Cut the boneless chicken into very small pieces and add in the salt, pepper, ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder. Mix well to combine. Set aside. Let it marinate for 5-10 minutes.
- Add in all the spices listed under “masala powder” to a heavy pan and dry roast on a low flame until very fragrant and the pepper starts to pop. Remove from heat and allow it to cool completely. Grind the mixture in the mixie to make a powder. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add in the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, cashews and the curry leaves. Saute for a minute on medium flame. Add in the onions and fry till they are soft. About 3-4 minutes. Add in the tomatoes. Fry for a couple of minutes.
- Add in the chicken mixture and the ground masala. Saute for 7-8 minutes till the chicken is completely cooked and dry.
- Add in the coconut milk and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
Spices For the Masala Powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (sombu)
- 2 dried red chilli
- 2 teaspoon coriander seeds
For marinating chicken
- 250 grams boneless chicken breast, cut into small pieces
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
Other Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 stick cinnamon, 2 inches
- 2 cardamom
- 2 cloves
- 3 sprigs curry leaves
- 5 - 6 cashewnuts
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tomato chopped
- 1 cup coconut milk (thick)
- 3 sprigs coriander leaves, chopped
- Cut the boneless chicken into very small pieces and add in the salt, pepper, ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder. Mix well to combine. Set aside. Let it marinate for 5-10 minutes.
- Add in all the spices listed under “masala powder” to a heavy pan and dry roast on a low flame until very fragrant and the pepper starts to pop. Remove from heat and allow it to cool completely. Grind the mixture in the mixie to make a powder. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add in the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, cashews and the curry leaves. Saute for a minute on medium flame. Add in the onions and fry till they are soft. About 3-4 minutes. Add in the tomatoes. Fry for a couple of minutes.
- Add in the chicken mixture and the ground masala. Saute for 7-8 minutes till the chicken is completely cooked and dry.
- Add in the coconut milk and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/chicken-masala-gravy-recipe/
I don’t do much of prawn dishes at home as my husband is allergic to shell fish. But I love prawns. This recipe for Chettinad Prawn Masala is my favorite. More than a decade ago, we were on an Air India flight to Mauritius for our honey moon. They had just served prawn curry for in flight meals and we were just casually talking and eating. He ate the bread and then went on to have a big bite of rice and the curry. Suddenly he started coughing. Coughing really badly and his eyes were all red. He did not realize that it was prawn curry and he told me that he was allergic to prawns. He was suffering. I froze for a minute. That was the first time I was seeing someone react to food allergy. I am severely allergic to pollen etc.. myself and so I carry anti-histamines with me all the time. He had one of those and he kind of became OK after a couple of hours. Poor guy. I love prawns. My son is kind of getting to like prawns nowadays. So I do it at home once in a while when my husband is travelling. Little perks of things when husband is not home. Prawns cook very fast and this Chettinad Prawn Masala is so easy to make. This dish can be put together in less than 20 minutes.
Use only sesame oil for this recipe. Add the curry leaves lavishly. The aroma of curry leaves fried in sesame oil is to die for in this Chettinad Prawn Masala. Heat sesame oil (gingely oil / nallennai ) in a pan and add in the fennel seeds (sombu), cardamom and curry leaves. Let it sizzle. Add in the finely chopped onions and fry for 5-6 minutes until the onions are brown.
Add in the chopped tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, spice powders and the salt. Saute for 5-6 minutes on medium flame until the tomatoes are cooked and the oil starts separating from the mixture. The mixture should be dry by now.
Add in the cleaned and de-veined prawns to the mixture. Prawns cook fast. Saute for 4-5 minutes until the prawns are fully cooked. Switch off the flame and garnish the prawn masala with coriander leaves.
Serve Chettinad Prawn Masala with some piping hot rice and a dollop of ghee. yum o yum! This dish can also be served with thengai paal saadam or egg biryani .
Chettinad Prawn Masala is Ready.
Here is a printable recipe for Chettinad Prawn Masala.
Main Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 cardamom
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (sombu)
- 3 sprigs curry leaves
- 2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 250 grams prawns, cleaned and de-veined
- 2 sprigs coriander leaves, finely chopped
Spice Powders
- 1 teaspoon pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- Heat sesame oil in a pan and add in the fennel seeds, cardamom and curry leaves. Let it sizzle. Add in the finely chopped onions and fry for 5-6 minutes until the onions are brown.
- Add in the tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, spice powders and the salt. Saute for 5-6 minutes on medium flame until the tomatoes are cooked and the oil starts separating from the mixture. The mixture should be dry by now.
- Add in the cleaned and de-veined prawns to the mixture. Prawns cook fast. Saute for 4-5 minutes until the prawns are fully cooked. Switch off the flame and garnish the prawn masala with coriander leaves.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
