Chicken Chettinaad

This was not a pre-decided dish. Anushka was out of Mumbai on a Sunday for her friend’s wedding. So, three of us – me, aarya and my dad headed to the super market to buy groceries, household stuff and non-veg. Fish was the main thing..

While crossing aisles, I saw one readymade pack of chettinaad masala.. looked interesting. Then turned around and bought 500 gms chicken to cook it with..

Ingredients              

Chicken	500 gms	1” Cubes (with bones)
Oil	3 – 4 tspns
Mustard seeds (rai)	2 tspn
Curry leaves	20 leaves
Onions	2	Finely chopped
Tomato	1	Finely chopped
Turmeric powder	¼ tspn
Chettinaad masala	4 tbpsn
Water	1 cup
Salt	To taste
Coriander	Few sprigs	For garnish
Tomato	1	Sliced vertically, for garnish

Method

1.    In a deep frying pan, saute some mustard seeds (rai) and curry leaves in oil (till such time the seeds starts splattering; don’t want it to burn)

2.    Add the onions, turmeric powder and keep stirring for few minutes (more than the translucent stage of the onions)

3.    Add the chettinaad readymade masala and stir for more 2 or 3 minutes. Later, put the diced tomatoes and stir more

4.    Add the chicken in the pan and coat chicken with the entire mixture (let the chicken cook here for 3 to 5 minutes before the next stage)

5.    Add ¾ cup of water to the mix and cook for few minutes (depending on your choice, you can add more water if you want little more gravy (sauce); inherently, this dish is a dry (sukka) dish, but you can always swing it to make it a curry – tastes excellent with rice)

6.    Garnish your dish with coriander and sliced tomatoes on the side

7.    Ready to serve with either chapatti, paratha, roti or steaming rice

Ready to be served; picture taken before sprinkling coriander