Many of us have grandparents who are fabulous cooks. Mine makes the most delicious meals which I can never get enough of! One of the family favourites is my nana’s chicken curry. She cooks it differently as the chicken is cooked in a pressure cooker first and then added to the masalas. Yum! You can enjoy this with idiyappam (Kerala steamed noodle cake) or chappatis 🙂

Time: 

• Prep time – 15 minutes
• Cook time – 40 minutes

Ingredients: 

• Chicken (Cut into medium sized pieces) – 1 kg
• Ginger (Crushed) – 2-inch piece
• Garlic (Crushed) – 12 pods
• Indian Green Chilli (Crushed) – 2
• Curry Leaf – 1 sprig
• Garam Masala Powder – 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp
• Kashmiri Chilli Powder -4 tsp
• Coriander Powder – 3 tbsp
• Fennel Seed Powder – 1 tsp
• Small Red Onions/ Shallots (Crushed) – 2 cups
• Coconut oil or Any other oil of your choice – 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Coriander Leaves for Garnish

Method: 

1. With a mortar and pestle, crush the ginger and garlic. Set aside half of this for the chicken and half to use in Step 5
2. Crush the shallots. Set aside half of this for the chicken and half to use for Step 6
3. Crush the Indian green chillies 
4. In a pressure cooker, add the chicken, crushed ginger garlic, crushed shallots, crushed green chilli, half the garam masala, turmeric and salt. Add a cup of water and pressure cook for one whistle (if in an electric pressure cooker, then for 10 minutes). Then let it simmer for 5 minutes
5. In a deep dish pan, heat the oil. Add the other half of the ginger garlic and curry leaves. Saute for a minute
6. Add the crushed shallots and saute till brown
7. Mix the remaining masalas with a little water and add to the onions. Saute till oil separates
8. Add the cooked chicken and bring to a boil. Simmer for half an hour 
9. Garnish with coriander and enjoy 🙂