Chicken Kuzhambhu-Restaurent style

Ingredients: For Paste
6 nos Dry red chili
2 tbsp Coriander Seeds
1 tsp Raw rice
1 tsp Black pepper corns
1 tsp Cumin Seeds

½ tsp Fennel Seeds
1 tsp Poppy Seeds
1 tsp Split roasted grams(pottukadalai)
1 no Cinnamon (1/2 " stick)
2 nos Cloves
1 no Cardamon
1 tsp Dry coconut flakes

Kuzhambhu:
2 nos Onions (finely chopped)
1 no Tomato (chopped)
1 no Green chili (finely chopped)
4 clove Garlic (crushed)
1 inch Ginger (crushed)
1 no Cornish hen (or use 1 pound regular chicken)
½ tsp Turmeric powder
1 tbsp Fresh ground coconut paste (diluted with water)
2 no Bay leaf (small)
2 no Dry red chili (for tempering)
½ tsp mustard seeds
4 tbsp Oil (sesame oil preferred)
1½ tsp Salt (or to taste)
2 stks Coriander leaves (chopped for garnishing)
10 nos Curry leaves

Method:

Masala Paste :

Dry roast all the ingredients from table-1 (Dry red chili + coriander seeds+ raw rice + black pepper corns + cumin seeds + fennel seeds + poppy seeds + split roasted gram + cinnamon + cloves + cardamon + coconut flakes ) until slightly brown. Switch off and cool completely. Grind to powder and keep aside.

Kuzhambu :

Heat sesame oil and toast bay leaf, curry leaves and splutter mustard. Now add chopped onions, green chilis, crushed ginger and garlic. Fry them for 5 minutes or until slightly browned. Now add the tomatoes and cook for a minute, add the cut chicken pieces, cover with a lid and cook further for 3 minutes. When the meat turns all white, add the turmeric powder, our ground masala powder and saute. Fry till the masala browns well, add salt and keep frying (definitely requires some scraping as the masala will be become very sticky at this point). Now add 1 cup of water and ground coconut paste, cover with lid, bring the flame to low. Let it simmer for another 5 to 8 minutes, the oil should separate as the kuzhambu boils. Garnish with coriander.

Serve Hot with Rice.