Spicy Chicken Roast – Kerala Style
I haven’t posted a Naadan Kerala dish here in a while; so here goes one which qualifies in terms of ingredients at least. I kind of made up the recipe as I was cooking, so I can’t claim that it is a traditional dish. It sure tasted like one to me though. We haven’t been eating carbs at home since the beginning of this year, but suddenly I was craving for some rice yesterday along with something really spicy. Yes, all that gloating about sticking to the new year resolutions was a bit premature as it turns out. I am just going to blame it on the weather and move on to the recipe.
I used a Cornish hen in this recipe, but of course it can be made with regular chicken too. Oh by the way, did you know that Cornish hen is just a fancy name for young chicken? I used to think I was eating some exotic game meat before, so it sure was a bit disappointing to find out that it was just chicken! Anyway, Cornish Hens taste so much better than the big fat chickens we get in the stores over here, so we recently started using them instead of chicken in bone-in chicken preparations. It makes a big difference in taste, almost like the chicken we get in India. Try it next time! Anyway, enough about the hens, off to the recipe. As you’ll see, there’s a few too many steps in this one, but the frying-cooking-frying technique works great to get that crispy, slightly burned taste to the chicken pieces, it is worth the extra steps.
Ingredients
- 1 Cornish game hen, cut into 4 pieces ~1.1 lbs (or use a whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces)
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tbsp red chili powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- salt
- 2 tbsp ginger , julienned
- 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 2 green chilies, sliced lengthwise into 4 pieces
- Oil
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
- 1/2 a can coconut milk
To Powder
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 3 cardamom pods
- a small piece of star anise
- 1/2 ” piece of cinnamon
Powder the ingredients under the “To Powder” section in a spice grinder. Mix with the red chili powder, salt, turmeric powder and the vinegar to form a masala paste.
Remove the loose skin from the chicken pieces, clean and dry thoroughly with paper towels and marinate in the above paste for 30 minutes or more.
In a deep pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil and add the sliced onions. Saute the onions till soft, then stir in some salt and black pepper powder and saute for a few more minutes. Remove the onions and keep aside.
Add a bit more oil and transfer the chicken pieces to the pan. Fry the chicken pieces for about a minute on each side, turning once, so that the masala paste is slightly fried. Add the ginger, garlic and green chili slices and mix well. Add a cup of hot water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook for about 10-12 minutes for Cornish hens and 15-18 minutes for regular chicken depending on how thick the pieces are. Remove the lid and stir in the coconut milk, bring to a light boil, cover and continue cooking for another 2 minutes.
Remove the chicken pieces from the gravy and keep aside. Then pour all the liquid out of the pan into a cup and return the pan to the stove. Add a bit more oil and fry the cooked chicken pieces turning frequently till the pieces are evenly browned all over. Remove the fried chicken pieces and keep aside. To the leftover oil in the pan, add the sauteed onions and mix well to loosen up the browned bits in the pan. Now add the gravy to this pan and bring to a boil. Add the fried chicken pieces back into the gravy and mix well to coat the chicken pieces well with the gravy. It should be pretty thick by now, if not cook till most of the gravy is absorbed and the oil starts to separate.
Serve hot with rice. I didn’t use any curry leaves, but it will be a really nice addition to this dish, at least to increase the Naadan-ness of it.
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Oh…this looks yummmy…I am gonna try it this weekend.
Chicken looks good, Sig, as does the layout.
Just had lunch and seeing that delcious chicken i am back hungry, well let me say i am greedy hungry.
Would be a great recipe to show on TV with all those steps. But well worth it, if the end result is even half as good as yours.
yummy yum
Drooling at 7 in the morning:-) Didn’t know that cornish hen is just young chicken. I also used to think that it is something different. All the more reason for me to get these more often now than dealing with a newborn baby sized chicken.
Love the new look Sig!! The green looks so much more soothing and smoother now.
Yum! I thought cornish hen was from Cornwall or something!! Like the new layout.
Just like how I like it..Spicy and fiery! Am glad you posted this!
I was wondering why curry leaves were missing in this recipe until I read the last line. The chicken looks fiery and yummy Sig. I’ve been on Phase 1 since new year’s and was all set to cook Salmon tonight but I’ll be making Pongal instead
.
Love Keralan dish. Your chicken sounds so delicious Sig!
I love the new layout! It’s so much more streamlined than before. I love that there are photos of the recent posts in the sidebar.
Oh..you’ve added an extra ‘e’ in eats in the header..just thought I’d let you know!
Hi Chaitali, thank you! I totally missed that extra “e”!
Fixed it now. Thanks again!
I have marinated the chicken (not cornish) to make this tomorrow. Let me see how much I can follow. I can smell the fennel and coriander. Loved the sound of the coconut milk, fennel and the double frying the chicken. I have the curry leaves at home.
i think I should make a resolution to try out all your chicken recipes.
I love your chicken recipes and am always trying them – they seem very similar to the ones I adapt and come up with, in that the spice levels and cooking. This one is definitely a must try – though I must admit, we dont like skin at all!
want.some.now
I am seriously reconsidering the promise I made TH that I won’t cook non veg at home. He didn’t ask for it so prolly he wudn’t mind if i take it back
Sig looks like you’r chicken recipe list has grown very long. Just vieweing the “You might also like this list” I can’t resist saying this. This dish looks exotic and I heard Sandeepa too breaking her 7 day diet for a lovely goat meat curry! Hmm…I don’t know why dieting people where so much tested
Done ! Finger licking good and I mean it! I “almost” followed it to the T, added the leaves too. Thanks Sig!
Hi Sig, I am a bit under the weather since last 2 days, so taking it easy. Thanks for your wishes girl, half of 2009 was pretty bad for me but I recovered and glad to say I am stronger now.
I thought Cornish Hens are different too, I baked them for Thanksgiving last year. They were yum. I will try your recipe too if I get them again. Dish looks yummy and spicy. Eating little carb everyday is okay I think, gives you energy. I am doing the portion control and biking, lost wt and all the stress helped as well!
Wow…it looks yummy! Reminds me of the roast we make in Mangalore. You know even I didnt know till you mentioned that Cornish hens are just chickens. Will try it next time
Man, I have got to visit Kerela one day for all this delicious food.
It looks really really spicy and yummy….
I am drooling Sig. Thanks for clarification about Cornish hens, I didn’t know that
. I will have to try it sometime.
Hye Sig. Happy New Year. How have you been. I am back and will hopefully stick on this time. The chicken makes me drool. I am wiping my keyboard off with a tissue right this minute!!!!
Even I thought Cornish hen was another sister or brother of turkey or something like that until I found its definition as ‘Young chicken’ in Wiki.. being loyal to chicken I didn’t even pick it up from the store. Later I picked it up and made some curry.. it was absolutely delicious..
Having read your post I am urged to shop for some cornish hen now.. will try this recipe and let you know how it comes out…
I’ve never cooked with cornish hens – looks tasty!
Thanks everyone!
@Soma, glad it worked for you!
Thanks for the feedback.
I’ve never tried the cornish hens. Will sure give this a try. Thanks for sharing such wonderful recipes.
Sig, Tried this yday…it was very delicious!!! Thx for sharing. Looking forward for more such recipes.!!! Thx
it was awesome to have it come together the way it did, the smell, the way it looked kinda like cooking magic! me and my brilliant friend tried this out for lunch today and its over, nothing remains
we used 1/2 cup dry roasted coconut instead of the milk for a richer drier version, DELISH