Chicken in a dark, aggressively peppery masala built from a freshly toasted and ground spice blend. Properly hot, and one of the most fragrant curries you can make.
Prep
25 mins
Cook
40 mins
Servings
4
Per serving
£2.00
Difficulty
medium
Chettinad cooking uses a lot of black pepper and fennel, and the difference between a good version and a flat one is entirely down to toasting and grinding the spices yourself minutes before you use them. Do not substitute pre-ground pepper here, it will not work.
Heat a dry frying pan over a medium heat. Toast the peppercorns, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds and dried chillies together for 2 to 3 minutes, shaking constantly, until fragrant and a shade darker.
Add the desiccated coconut to the same dry pan and toast for a further 90 seconds until golden. Tip everything onto a cold plate immediately to stop it cooking.
Coconut goes from golden to bitter and black in about fifteen seconds. Never walk away from this step.
Once completely cool, grind the whole lot to a coarse powder in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar. Set the masala aside.
Heat the coconut oil in a heavy pan over a medium heat, add the curry leaves and let them crackle, then add the onions with a pinch of salt. Fry for 12 minutes until deep golden.
Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes and turmeric. Cook for 8 minutes until the tomatoes collapse and the oil separates.
Add the chicken and turn it in the masala base for 5 minutes until sealed all over.
Stir in three-quarters of your ground spice blend along with the remaining salt and 200ml water. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Uncover and cook for a final 5 to 8 minutes until the gravy is thick and clinging. Stir in the last of the ground masala off the heat, taste for salt, and finish with coriander.
Holding back a quarter of the blend until the end keeps that sharp, freshly ground pepper hit which would otherwise cook away.