Khaana | भारत के स्वाद
Tamil Nadu

Chettinad Chicken Curry

bone-in chicken in a freshly roasted masala of pepper, fennel and stone flower

gluten freedairy freenut freehealthier
Prep25 min
Cook45 min
Total70 min
Serves4
Difficultymoderate

Allergens: none of the common ones

Ingredients

Quantities for 4.

  • 800g bone-in, cut into curry pieces Chickenthigh and drumstick hold up better than breast
  • 15 small (about 200g), peeled and halved Shallotsambar onions, not big onions
  • 2 medium, chopped Tomato
  • 10 cloves Garlic
  • 2 inch piece, roughly chopped Ginger
  • 2 sprigs Curry Leaves
  • 4 tbsp Sesame OilIndian gingelly oil, not toasted East Asian sesame oil
  • 8, stems snapped off Dried Red Chilli
  • 3 tbsp Coriander Powderor 4 tbsp whole coriander seeds, dry-roasted and ground with the rest
  • 2 tsp whole Black Pepper
  • 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
  • 2 tsp Fennel Seeds
  • 1 tbsp Poppy Seeds
  • 1/2 cup, freshly grated Coconut
  • 1 inch stick Cinnamon
  • 4 Cloves
  • 1 whole Star Anise
  • 1 tsp Stone Flowerkalpasi, the black lichen that gives Chettinad masala its smoke
  • 1 Bay Leafoptional
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric
  • to taste Salt
  • 300ml Water
  • 3 tbsp, chopped Coriander Leavesto finishoptional

Equipment

stovetop, kadhai, blender

Before you start

  • Rub the chicken with the turmeric and 1 tsp salt and leave it 20 minutes at room temperature while you roast the masala.
  • Grate the coconut fresh if you can — desiccated coconut roasts too fast and turns bitter.
  • The masala is ground dry-then-wet, so have a small blender jar ready; a large one will not catch the spices.

Method

  1. Dry-roast the red chillies, coriander powder, black pepper, cumin, fennel, poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves, star anise and stone flower in a dry pan over low heat for 4-5 minutes.Low heat only. The moment the fennel smells sweet and the pan starts to smoke faintly, take it off — burnt pepper cannot be rescued.
  2. Add the grated coconut to the same pan and roast a further 3 minutes until it turns the colour of weak tea.
  3. Cool the mixture completely, then grind to a fine powder, add 100ml water and grind again to a smooth thick paste.Grinding hot spices steams the jar and gives you a gummy paste instead of a fine one.
  4. Heat the gingelly oil in a kadhai and add the bay leaf and curry leaves; they will spit for a few seconds.
  5. Add the shallots and fry over medium heat for 8 minutes until soft and browning at the edges.
  6. Grind the ginger and garlic to a coarse paste, add it to the pan and fry 2 minutes until the raw smell goes.
  7. Add the tomatoes and cook 5 minutes until they collapse and the oil starts to separate at the sides.
  8. Stir in the ground masala paste and fry on low for 6-8 minutes, scraping the base, until the oil rises dark red around the edges.This fry-down is the whole dish. Under-fry it and the curry tastes of raw spice powder.
  9. Add the chicken and turn it in the masala for 5 minutes so every piece is coated and sealed.
  10. Pour in 200ml water, season with salt, cover and simmer 20-25 minutes until the chicken is tender and the gravy clings.Chettinad kuzhambu is a coating gravy, not a soup. If it looks thin, uncover and boil hard for 3 minutes.
  11. Rest off the heat 5 minutes, then scatter the coriander leaves and serve with rice or dosai.

Storage

Keeps 3 days refrigerated and tastes better on day two. Reheat gently on the stovetop with 2-3 tbsp water; do not microwave on full power or the coconut splits.

Recipe v1.0.0, last updated 2026-07-31. Curated for Khaana and kept under version control.