Kolhapuri Chicken Curry/North Indian Curry Challenge

This has been in my drafts since Easter! I finally typed out the recipe and made the post…It has been a pretty hectic week or weeks…I would reallly like to thank Sandhya and Parul for judging this challenge!

I made this last week when some of my friends had come over for Easter lunch. I had served this with iddiyappam and all of us just loved it toooooo much! I have to thank my friend Abhishek for the photography…

Kolhapur is a city in Maharashtra in India, famous for it’s footwear. It is mostly noted for it’s mutton curries. They generally have a standard garam masala which is used in all the curries. I used a recipe that someone had given me. She hadn’t specified the exact amounts so i sort of adjusted it to my liking.

I adapted this recipe from Kolhapuri Sukka chicken recipe by Sanjeev Kapoor from Khana Khazana cookbook.

Ingredients:

1. Chicken(boneless)-1/2 kg
2. 1 big green chilli chopped
3. onions-3
4. Freshly ground ginger garlic paste- 1 tbsp
5. oil- 5 to 7 tbsp
6. Nutmeg powder- 1/4 tsp
7. salt to taste
8. 8 cashews soaked in 1/2 cup milk
9. Fresh cream- 2 tbsp

For paste

1. Dry coconut-1/4-grated
2. Red chillies(the recipe used Bedgi variety)- 2
3. Poppy seeds- 2 tbsp
4. peppercorns- 4 -5
5. Shahi jeera/ Caraway seeds- 1 tsp
6. cinnamon – 1 inch stick
7. Green cardamoms- 4
8. Cloves- 4

Garam masala

1. 1 tbsp coriander seeds
2. 1 tsp fennel seeds
3. 2 tsp cumin seeds
4. 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
5. 1 tbsp sesame seeds

Method:

For the paste:

Roast everything with a tsp of ghee except the dry coconut for not more than 3 minutes as the poppy seeds tend to char faster. Transfer immediately into a cooler cotainer as the poppy seeds may turn black due to the heat of the vessel. Now separately dry roast the dry coconut for 5 minutes or so until they turn golden brown on simmer. Grind everthing together with a little water.

For the garam masala:

Roast the spices with a tsp of ghee for 2 to 4 mintes. Cool and finely grind.

Method 2:

1.Heat oil in a cooker. Add the thinly sliced onions and chopped green chillis and saute until golden brown.

2. Add the ginger garlic paste. Stir fry until raw smell vanishes. Add more oil in case the paste starts sticking to the cooker.

3. Stir in the paste and cook well on medium flame for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chicken pieces and some oil and stir well on high flame for 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Add 3/4th to 1 cup water, garam masala, nutmeg powder, salt and close the cooker. Keep for one whistle and turn off. SLowly release the steam after a while and then open the lid.

5. Transfer this to a kadai.

6. Grind the fresh cream along with the cashew and milk. Add this to the chicken. Cook for about 3 minutes. Adjust the salt. Sprikle a lot of coriander.