3 Marvelous Chicken Recipes You Need To Try!

Table of Contents

1. Chicken Cucumber

This is a dish common to the northern regions of Kerala. One of my closest friends taught me this preparation which she had learnt from her mother. This dish hailing from Thrissur (Kerala, South India) is a prime favourite.

Ingredients

Chicken – 1
Small onion – 250 gm
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Ginger (chopped) – 250 gm
Green chilli (slit) – 4 to 5
Red chilli powder – 2 to 3 tsp
Curry leaves – 15 to 20
Salt – to taste
White cucumber – 250 to 300 gm
Coconut milk from 1 cup coconut – First milk : ¼ cup; Second milk : 1 cup

For the Masala

Grated coconut – 1 to 1 ½ cup
Fennel – 1 tsp
Slit green chillies – 3 to 4
Small onion – 4 to 5
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Cinnamon – 1 ½ inch pieces
Garlic – 2 to 3 flakes
Cloves – 4 to 5
Green cardamom – 3 to 4
Poppy seeds – 2 tsp

Seasoning

Small onion – 3 to 4
Red chillies – 2 to 3
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – 15 to 20
Coconut oil – 2 tsp

Preparation

Clean and cut the chicken and set it to drain. Put all the ingredients listed- except coconut milk and cucumber-in a pressure cooker. Add the chicken and set to pressure cook up to 1 or 2 whistles. Keep aside to cool.

Heat a frying pan and slowly fry all the items of the masala except the coriander powder. Keep stirring until the mixture turns slightly yellow. Sprinkle a little coconut oil, maybe 1 to 2 tsp and continue to stir. Add the coriander powder, continue stirring for about one minute and then remove from flame. Set it aside to cool. Keep stirring, the masala thus ground should retain the light yellow colour. Leave to cool.

Clean and cut the cucumber into cubes after removing the skin outside and the seeds inside. Add this to the chicken mixture in the pressure cooker, along with salt and the second milk of the coconut and allow to cook without pressure.

Grind the masala to a fine paste. When the cucumber chicken mixture is done well, add the paste mixed with water. Let it froth and then remove from the flame and add the first milk of the coconut. Swirl the contents of the cooker so that the milk gets properly mixed.

Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and put in the cut pieces of onion, sauté for a little while, add the cut chilli and the curry leaves. Add the red chilli powder, pour into the curry and swirl. The chicken cucumber dish is now ready to serve. Half a teaspoon of vinegar makes the curry even more but this is optional.

This dish is tasty with rice and a large array of appams like idiyappam, palappam, kallappam, puttu, as well as bread. It is tastiest if the chicken used is the local one that is reared at home. However, that may not be easily available and so the broiler variety may be used. If so there is no need to use the pressure cooker. Cook over a slow fire and add the cucumber cubes when the chicken is seventy percent done. It is truly a dish that is worth trying!

2. Chicken White Stew

This traditional dish is a must among Christians in Kerala particularly on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday. They break their fast with a feast comprising palappam, cake, steamed bananas, rice halwa and chicken or mutton white stew. This dish is truly delicious after the long abstinence of twenty-five days preceding Christmas and fifty days preceding Easter.

Ingredients

Chicken – 1 kg
Potatoes – 2 to 3
Big onion – 2 to 3
Pepper – 10 to 15
Green chilli – 8 to 10
Ginger – 2 pieces one inch long
Cinnamon – 1 ½ inch long
Coconut oil – 2 tbsp
Cardamom – 5 to 6
Grated coconut – 2 to 3 cups
Curry leaves – 4 to 5 sprigs
Cloves – 5 to 8
Salt – to taste

Seasoning

Small Onion (cut into thin rounds) – 10 to15
Ghee – 2 tbsp
Red chillies – 4 to 5
Pepper (whole) – 10 to 15
Curry leaves – 4 to 5 sprigs

Preparation

Clean and cut the chicken into big pieces, wash and drain. Grind half of the ginger and green chillies. Mix with salt and marinate the chicken for about an hour.

Crush the coconut and squeeze it so that milk is extracted. Keep aside. Grind the crushed coconut again and squeeze out the second milk to be kept in another vessel. Use two cups of water to extract milk a third time.

Put the chicken into a pressure cooker, add one cup of water. Cook for a very short time until two whistles can be heard. Remove from fire and allow to cool.

Heat the frying pan and pour the coconut oil in it. Put the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and pepper and sauté lightly. Then add the big onion, ginger, green chilly, some curry leaves and keep stirring. When the onion is transparent, add the potato pieces and allow the whole to cook over a slow flame.

Remove from fire when the cooked potato gives off its aroma. Add this mixture to the cooked chicken in the pressure cooker and boil using the third coconut milk. When everything is thoroughly cooked add the second milk and check for salt. Boil the curry again and remove from flame when done. Add the thick first coconut milk and swirl.

Season well with the ingredients listed. Be sure to put off the flame when the onion has become lightly brown. Add the seasoning to the curry and have a very tasty chicken white stew for Christmas!

3. Onion Chicken (Ullikozhy)

This is a preparation that is the best for broiler chicken and can be made with ingredients that are always readily available in the kitchen. The taste of this chicken dish is best the day after it is prepared, therefore it can be cooked the day before guests are expected, leaving one free to entertain the visitors!

Ingredients

Broiler chicken – 1 kg
Big onion cut into long thin slices – 4 to 5
Fleshy red tomatoes chopped – 3 to 4

For the Masala

Red chillipowder – 1 ½ tablespoon
Kashmiri chillipowder – 1 ½ tablespoon
Cinnamon – 1 ½ inch long
Cloves – 4 to 5
Ginger – 1 ½ inch piece
Garlic flakes – 5 to 6
Cardamom – 3 to 4
Coconut oil – 1 ½ cup
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Pepper – 10 to 12 balls
Salt – to taste

Preparation

Clean, wash and cut the chicken into medium pieces, leave to drain. Heat oil in a frying pan and when very hot deep fry the sliced onions. Remove from pan when the onions are golden yellow and crisp and drain. Put aside three fourths of the oil left in the pan. Fry the chopped tomatoes in the oil that remains in the pan, stirring at intervals. In the meantime, grind thoroughly all the ingredients from the Chilli powder to turmeric powder.

Keep aside the tomatoes which would, by this time, have been well done. Saute the masala well adding 2 or 3 tablespoons of coconut oil. The masala should be sauted well until the oil is separated Marinate the chicken with this masala and salt. After an hour, put the marinated chicken and the sauted tomato along with three fourths of the fried onion which has been crushed slightly, in a large vessel.

Pour ½ cups of boiling water into the vessel and increase the flame to the maximum. Stir occasionally and allow the dish to be cooked for the next 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from flame when the oil in the dish appears. The dish is now done. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle the remaining fried onion over it as garnishing. This is a marvelous dish and is a happy combination with everything even idli!!

Prawns-Jackfruit Seed Curry