Chicken Malbar Curry

For the marinade, put all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl, add the chicken, mix well, cover and leave for 30 to 45 minutes.
Prepare the spice mix next. Heat a small frying pan until you feel the heat radiating above.  Add the all the spices, but not the chilli powder.  Stir the spices, they will become aromatic, when this happens, remove the pan from the heat, swirl the spices around for 10 seconds then cool them briefly in a small bowl.  Spoon into a spice grinder and blitz to a powder.
Then, for the curry, heat the coconut oil in a pan, add the onions and sauté slowly until they turn translucent. Stir in the ginger and garlic paste and fry for about 2 minutes until the pungent aroma subsides.  Turn up the heat and add the chicken pieces and cook until they turn white, about 2 – 3 minutes.
Stir in the grinded spice mix and chilli powder, mix well. Cover and cook till the chicken is done. Keep stirring in between. I did not use additional water, the moisture in the chicken and grinded spice mix was enough to cook.  Pour the coconut milk in and simmer for 5 minutes.  Taste and season accordingly
And, finally for the tempering, heat the coconut oil in a small pan and fry onions till they turn pinkish; add the curry leaves and red chili. When the leaves splutter, pour over the curry and serve.
 

Ingredients

Marinade
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 500g chicken
Spice mix
  • 11/2 tablespoons coriander seeds
  • 1 x 2.5cm stick cinnamon stick
  • 4 cloves
  • 2 cardamom pods
  • ¼ teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin
  • ¼ – ½ teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder
Gravy
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon of garlic and ginger paste
  • 240ml coconut milk
Tempering
  • 1 ½ teaspoons coconut oil
  • 1 dried red chilli
  • 1 shallot, peeled and sliced thinly
  • 1 sprig curry leaves