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Chicken Drumsticks in a Spicy Gravy and FAHC – Donate Smiles Campaign

14 October 2007 28 Comments

I know, I have way too many chicken recipes! I haven’t even published half of my different chicken dishes here. Most of my Indian chicken recipes call for very similar set of ingredients, but the ratio of ingredients, and the cooking method itself finally make these all unique dishes with their own unique identity. That is the beauty of Indian cooking I guess!

This chicken dish is special, because the chicken is first cooked in a gravy which is thickened down, and then most of the gravy is removed from the pan, and the chicken pieces are charred along with the leftover gravy. The charred spices on the slightly fried chicken is the main attraction of this dish. The chicken pieces taste heavenly after this small step. You can use this method in any of your regular chicken curry recipe, try it and see how much different the dish tastes!

Ingredients

10 chicken drumsticks, skinned
For the Marinade

1.5 tbsp ginger paste
1.5 tbsp garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1.5 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp cloves

4-5 cardamom pods

1″ cinnamon stick

2 cups thinly sliced onions

a bunch of curry leaves

1 cup diced tomato pieces

2 cups hot water

Method

Clean the drumsticks, and make one or two slits on the fleshy part.

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in about 2 tbsp water to make a thick paste. Add the drumsticks and mix well to coat the drumsticks well with the marinade.

In a deep pan wide enough to fit all the drumsticks without crowding, heat oil, and add the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon stick. When the spices are heated through, add the onions and curry leaves and fry till the onions start to brown.

Add the marinated chicken pieces and mix well. Cook on high heat till the chicken pieces starts to turn white. Add the diced tomatoes and mix well. Cook till the tomato pieces are blended into the mixture. Add the hot water, and cover the pan with a tight fitting lid.

Cook on medium heat for about 7-8 minutes till chicken pieces are cooked. Remove the lid and cook till the gravy is medium thick.

Now, remove as much gravy as you can from the pan and keep aside. Increase the heat and fry the chicken pieces till the remaining gravy is completely dried out and the chicken pieces are slightly charred. Keep turning the chicken pieces during this process, taking care not to break the pieces while making sure the pieces are evenly coated with the spicy gravy on all sides.

When the chicken is dry enough, reduce the heat to the lowest setting, and pour the prepared gravy over the pieces. Let the gravy heat through, if you like you can thicken down the gravy further at this point.

Serve hot with rice or chapattis.

Alternate Serving Suggestion:

This will make a great appetizer for a party with a slight modification to the recipe. Make sure the gravy is thick enough before it is removed from the pan, and do not pour the gravy back into the dish after the last step. Once the chicken pieces are charred, wrap the bone ends in aluminum foil, and arrange the drumsticks in a platter, with the prepared gravy as a dipping sauce in a cup, or serve individual servings of drumsticks in appetizer plates with the gravy drizzled over and around.

Feed A Hungry Child – Donate Smiles

Before you leave, please take a moment to read the following info about Feed A Hungry Child campaign, and consider making a contribution to this worthy cause.

feedahungrychild.org is a not-for-profit charitable organization formed in a collaborative effort of the like-minded people from all around the world. It aims to replace the empty plates of the underprivileged children and replace them with ones of food. While FAHC addresses the holistic needs of each children it supports, it believes illiteracy, malnutrition, and other concerns can only be addressed when hunger is appeased.

Immediate Mission:

Join the fight against global poverty.

Help feed hungry children one by one.

Larger Vision: feeahungrychild.org aims to improve the lives of a good many underprivileged children in their efforts to support themselves, their families, and their communities by giving them the chance for better food, better education, better healthcare, and other welfare.

Learn more about this worthy cause here. You can contribute to this cause through a variety of programs. If you want to make a one time donation, click on the ChipIn widget located at the top of the right sidebar of this page to donate securely via PayPal online. For more ways to help, visit this page.

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28 Comments »

Indira said:

Thanks very much Sig for mentioning about FAHC fund drive. I greatly appreciate your support!

It is a great cause Indira…it was my pleasure!

# 14 October 2007 at 9:51 pm

musy said:

I completely agree with the opening paragraph and i am saying this for the millionth time, but your pictures are some serious beauties, Sig!

and it makes me really happy to see everyone
getting together for FAHC.

Thanks musie

# 14 October 2007 at 9:55 pm

sra said:

What a lovely colour, Sig! Can you use all body parts instead of just the legs?

other body parts… when you put it like that…. hmmm… But seriously, yeah, you can use any cut, and any recipe as well… the legs look so pretty to photograph, thats all

# 14 October 2007 at 10:12 pm

Kaykat said:

*drool*!

And I don’t even eat chicken This gravy sounds *divine*! Ok, I absolutely have to try this with some veggies and maybe paneer.

Did I say *drool*?

I don’t know if it will work with veggies… all the taste comes from cooking the meat for a long time, frying, boiling, charring etc… veggies and paneer won’t be able to handle all those ill treatment

# 14 October 2007 at 10:43 pm

Raaga said:

I have fake chicken drumsticks… and will try this with those for sure.

As I told kaykat above, I don’t think non-meat substitutions will work here sweetie… sorry

# 14 October 2007 at 11:55 pm

Cinnamon said:

I am drooling over the picture It looks very delicious!!
It is a very nice thing to see everyone contribute for a cause like FAHC!!

Thanks

# 15 October 2007 at 12:15 am

Anh said:

Sig, your chicken dish is SUPER tasty!

Thanks Anh!

# 15 October 2007 at 12:59 am

h said:

The chicken dishlook really delicious.
I love chicken so you can post as many as u want . I will come here and drool on it
Very nice of u to mentionthe FAHC

instead of drooling, try it.. if you love chicken, i guarantee that you will love this

# 15 October 2007 at 1:06 am

padmaja said:

hey sig!!!
your drumsticks looks so tasty and vibrant!!I love your gravy as well!!

Thanks Padmaja

# 15 October 2007 at 3:20 am

indosungod said:

Looks awesome even this early in the morning!

thanks!

# 15 October 2007 at 4:21 am

swaroopa said:

hey yummy recipe and gr8 pic.

Thanks Swaroopa, and welcome to my blog.

# 15 October 2007 at 4:39 am

Asha said:

Never too many chicken recipes for me, blog on lady! Great cause Sig!

thanks asha…

# 15 October 2007 at 5:26 am

richa said:

hey, the gravy looks thick and has such a beautiful appetizing color

thanks richa.. color.. all the frying did the trick…

# 15 October 2007 at 5:51 am

sunita said:

One can never have too much of a good thing…the chicken looks delicious.

thanks Sunita..

# 15 October 2007 at 6:11 am

lissie said:

thats a fantastic recipe, sig! awesome picture!!!

Thanks lissie!

# 15 October 2007 at 6:42 am

Rina said:

Mouth Watering!!!!

# 15 October 2007 at 7:52 am

Padma said:

This looks so yummy! I am posting one more NV recipe today/tomo…. NIce colorful drumsticks indeed, would love to scoope in that gravy slurp!

I will go check out your recipe right away Padma… always good to see non veg recipes…

# 15 October 2007 at 8:06 am

shilpa said:

Ohh I am drooling…How do you get such a nice red color everytime Sig? Do you use some special chilies from India? Becos when my mom got me chilies, my dishes used to have this beautiful color, now again its back to normal

I use kashmiri chilli powder Shilpa, those give a nice color. I think frying all the masalas is the trick to the color in this dish though… I have noticed that with my mom… she fries stuff till it smokes, I don’t have that much patience, but I still try to get it somewhat brown

# 15 October 2007 at 8:30 am

Mona said:

Looks Delicious Sig !!

Thanks Mona!

# 15 October 2007 at 9:07 am

Mocha said:

Sig
I liked the rich color of the cgicken. i am very picky abt chicken recipes. I saw the picture actually drooled. It seldom happens

thanks Mocha…

# 15 October 2007 at 12:30 pm

neelam said:

The Chicken leg looks sooo appetising! Lovely idea! I’ll try it sometime.Thanks.

Thanks Neelam, let me know how it turns out if you do end up trying…

# 15 October 2007 at 5:55 pm

maninas: food matters said:

mmmmmmmmmmm what a yummy photo! and the recipe sounds fantastic! I love the idea of charring the chicken at the end. will try it and let you know!

Thanks Maninas… I think the charring really adds that special taste… let me know how it turns out!

# 16 October 2007 at 3:23 am

sandeepa said:

Awwwwwwwwww….is there an icon for drooling…need one fast

I will try and find one…

# 16 October 2007 at 10:14 am

Aruna said:

Sig, The curry has a beautifuly spicy red color, am drooling imagining the taste… And I cant wait to see more & more chicken recipes from ur recipe treasure…(BTW have too many recipes from u to try , ur Manglore Kori sukka turned out delicious
Thanks Sig!!

Good to see you Aruna… its been a while… glad to know you liked the kori sukka

# 18 October 2007 at 11:04 am

Hema said:

Hi Sig,

Today I tried u’r recipe…it came out well…My hubby liked it very much…thanks for the tasty recipe..

Hema.

Thanks for the feedback Hema! I am glad you and hubby liked it…

# 29 January 2008 at 7:57 pm

Wasabi Vasu said:

Stumbled into your page accidentally, and it has caused me some grief -> my stomach has been rumbling in hunger ever since I peeked at the yummy pics of the chilli chicken, and now these drumsticks I will have to organize a food drive for myself.

You mention that you haven’t published even half of your *chicken* recipes. Keep them coming.

- A “voracious” reader

# 7 April 2008 at 1:46 pm

Anu said:

I tried this recipe out a few days ago. It came out yum! The only changes I made were omitting the curry leaves (didn’t have any ) and using canned tomatoes.

# 15 July 2008 at 7:13 pm

anil said:

Hey sigma,
Hope your remember Anil from arizona….I tried this today , boy it came out pretty well…you folks come down to AZ…Say hi to that “character”
Anil

# 7 March 2009 at 6:59 pm