Kerala Style Nadan Chicken Curry from Scratch

Chicken curry can be made in a variety of ways with a range of spices and each dish will have a slightly different taste. This is a fairly simple and common chicken curry recipe that is easy to adjust to your personal taste. We are not adding coconut milk or any other thickening cream. It is also called “Red Chicken Curry”, well flavored with spices. It goes well with any type of rice dish (pulao, ghee rice, normal rice), chapathi, Indian bread, appam, etc.

We are using individual spices rather than premade curry powder. Although it appears to be a big list of ingredients, many of them are basic spices or products that can be found at any grocery shop.

What Ingredients Needed To Make Kerala Style Chicken Curry

You can find many of these ingredients at our Sadhyafoodie amazon shop. If you like to find the name of these spices in different languages check our list, Indian Spice’s names in Malayalam, English, Hindi and Tamil with pictures.

• Fennel seed
• Cardamom
• Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Star anise
• Khas Khas/poppy seed (optional)
• Black pepper powder
• Turmeric powder
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Kashmiri chili powder
• Chilli powder (optional)
• Coriander powder
• Onion
• Green chilies
• Curry leaves (optional)
• Tomatoes

How To Make Kerala-Style Spicy Chicken Curry From Scratch

Kerala Style Spicy Chicken Curry from scratch

This chicken curry is a flavourful main dish with warm spices. In this recipe, we are not using ready-made spices instead we use individual spices. Chicken pieces are cooked in a tomato sauce with a variety of fragrant spices such as turmeric, coriander, cardamom, cloves etc.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

Marinate Chicken

• 1 kg chicken
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp salt

For Masala Gray

• 1/2 tsp mustard seed
• 3 medium onions slice onion in to very small pieces. If you can get small onion or shallots add 25-30 count in addition.
• 1 tbsp crushed ginger
• 6 garlic cloves crushed (2 tbsp)
• 2 green chillies
• curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tomatoes chopped
• 2 tbsp kashmiri chili powder Adjust to your taste. Kashmiri chili powder give nice color to the curry.
• 1 tsp chili powder Adjust to your spice tolerance level. If you like spicy add 1 tsp more.
• 2 1/2 tbsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1½ cup hot water

Prepare Masala

• 1 tbsp fennel seed
• 4 cardamom
• 1 piece cinnamon
• 6 cloves
• 1 star anise
• 1/2 tsp Khas Khas/poppy seed (optional)

Instructions

 

• Clean and Cut Chicken in to medium pieces, drain them in a colander. Marinate chicken with salt, turmeric powder and black pepper. Keep it aside.
• Heat a pan and add 3-4 tbsp oil, when the oil is hot add 1/2 tsp mustard.
• When the mustard seed splutters adds 3-4 medium sliced onions, 2 green chilies, 1 sprig of curry leaves, and 1/2 tsp salt. Saute these until the onion is light brown, stirring often over medium heat.
• Add 1 tablespoon crushed ginger and 2 tbsp crushed garlic. Saute for another 3-4 minutes until onion is golden brown over medium heat.
• Add 2 chopped tomatoes and stir together. Saute them until tomatoes are cooked very well over medium high heat.
• Once the tomatoes have begun to break down, reduce heat and add 2 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder, 1 tsp chili powder, 2 1/2 tbsp coriander powder. Saute them for 2-3 minutes until the spices are cooked and fragrant.
• Add chicken and coat with all spices. Add 1/4 cup hot water. Mix all together very well and cover and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
• Prepare the masala: Add 1 tbsp fennel seeds, 1 piece of cinnamon stick, 6 cloves, 4 cardamom, 1 star anise, 1/2 tsp khas khas to a blender. Grind them to powder. Then add just enough water to grind them to paste. Keep it aside.
• Remove the lid and add 1½ cups of hot water to the chicken. Let it come to boil again, stirring occasionally. Cover with a lid and cook for another 10 minutes or until the chicken is tender over medium heat. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick on the bottom. This ensures that the chicken is fully cooked and that the flavors are absorbed into chicken pieces.
• Now add the ground masala and curry leaves. Reduce heat to low and cook for another 5 minutes or until the gravy is thick for your preference.
• Check for salt and spices. Adjust to your taste.
• Serve this Chicken curry with rice, roti, nan, parotta, etc.

Notes

If you like coconut slices, you can add 1/4 cup coconut slices along with the onion.

If you can get small onion/shallots add 25-30 sliced shallots along with the onion. It is not widely available as other onions. Shallots enhance the flavour of the curry. 

Please try this delicious chicken curry recipe and let me know what you think in the comments section. Please support me by liking and subscribing to my YouTube channel and sharing it with your friends and family.

Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken Curry – Variation#1

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (about 1.4 kg), cut into pieces
• 5 cloves garlic, sliced lengthwise
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 2 medium onions, chopped

To Crush:

• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 piece ginger

Whole Spices:

• 1 cinnamon stick
• 8-10 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 1 star anise
• 10 cloves
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp crushed black peppercorns

Powdered Spices Paste:

Make a paste by adding a little water. Powdered spices can easily burn when added directly to hot oil. By mixing them with water to form a paste, you reduce the risk of burning

• 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
• 1 3/4 tbsp coriander powder
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder

Other:

• Oil for cooking
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 cup water for cooking
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1/2 tbsp garam masala
• Fresh coriander leaves for garnish

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker over medium heat.
2. Add the whole spices and sauté until fragrant, approximately 30 seconds.
3. Add the sliced garlic and sauté until soft, about 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the chopped onions and sauté until translucent.
5. Stir in 1/2 tsp of crushed black pepper and sauté for another 30 seconds.
6. Add the crushed ginger garlic mixture and sauté until the onions become light brown, but not fully browned.
7. Stir in the powdered spices paste and sauté until the oil starts to separate, stirring continuously over medium heat.
8. Add the diced tomatoes, salt, and 1/4 cup of water.
9. Close the pressure cooker with the lid and cook over medium heat for 2 whistles.
10. Turn off the stove and allow the pressure cooker to naturally release pressure and cool down.
11. Once cooled, add the chicken pieces, 1/2 cup of hot water, and garam masala. Bring it to a boil.
12. Close the pressure cooker and cook over medium heat for 2 whistles. Turn off the heat and allow the pressure cooker to naturally release pressure.
13. Open the cooker and mix everything.
14. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves before serving.

FAQs

Indian Spices

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