Comments, Gravatars and Chicken Chili Fry

Before getting into the food part of the past, I want to update you all on some geeky blog stuff. I recently upgraded the blogging platform to WordPress 2.7 and one of the cool new features is Threaded comments. Now you can reply to any comment on the site, your reply will show up directly below the original comment. A great feature for the comment space hijackers, you know who you are!

Also, some of you might have noticed the small images next to your names in the comments section here and in other blogs. Those are called Gravatars aka Globally Recognized Avatar. It is an image associated with your e-mail id that will appear next to your comment on Gravatar enabled sites. You can get your own Gravatar by uploading a custom image at http://gravatar.com . If you don’t upload a custom avatar, you will be represented by a random but consistent monster face or a geometric shape or wavatar. Isn’t technology fun?

Well, technology’s got nothing to do with today’s recipe. In fact, this is one of those old fashioned recipes using the simplest ingredients and the age-old technique of simple pan frying. Back home in Kerala, this type of dry chicken preparation was known as Chicken Chili Fry and the one with a bit of sauce was known as Chili Chicken in some of the restaurants, where as in some other restaurants, this dish was simply known as Chili Chicken. Since I already have two different versions of Chili Chicken recipes, I am going to call this one Chicken Chili Fry.

Ingredients

• 1 lb skinless bone-in chicken thighs cut into bite size pieces
• 3/4 tsp red chili powder
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced onions
• 12 medium sized green chilies sliced lengthwise into four (or to taste)
• 1 tbsp crushed garlic
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 cup curry leaves
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Method

Marinate the chicken pieces with salt and chili powder and keep aside for 15 minutes.

In a large frying pan, heat 1/2 tbsp oil and add the onions, green chilies and garlic.  Season with salt. Saute till onions start to brown. Remove and keep aside.

Add the remaining oil to the pan and let it heat through. Add the marinated chicken pieces to the oil and cook stirring frequently on high heat till the chicken pieces are cooked through.

Add the grated ginger, curry leaves and the fried onion-garlic-chilies to the pan and mix well. Cook on medium high heat stirring frequently till the chicken pieces start to brown.

Add the lemon juice and mix well, remove from the heat and serve hot with a cold brew.

BTW don’t skimp on the curry leaves, the aroma from the curry leaves is what makes this dish so wonderful.

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Category: Chicken, Good with Drinks, India - Kerala