South Indian kurma is a flavourful and delicious curry with fresh ground masala. Taste great with street food style – Parotta.
Kongunad is a city comprising different parts of the states of modern Karnataka, and kerala. It was called kongudesam before and their cuisine is predominately south Indian which is very famous. So I wanted to make this recipe that I came to know.
This taste great with parotta or some kind of breads or naan or with plain rice. Whenever I say I made parotta and chicken kurma , I would see people drool 😀 I guess this combination is one of the classics. You can also use this chicken curry for street food style kothu parotta.
When I was making this recipe, the whole house smelled with flavors. I have heard stories about the method of making parotta in India. The road side parottas is the tastiest I have heard. The making of parotta is an art. The art of making the layers is fun to learn. I have made it couple of times and it is sure fun to make. It makes your stomach full as it is made with all purpose flour and oil.
You can have parotta with vegetable kurma too if you are a vegetarian. However if you eat meat, I am sure chicken curry like this is the best.
Other favorite chicken recipes: Madurai chicken curry/Kuzhambu, Chicken Biryani Homestyle, Madras chicken curry in 30 minutes.
- Chicken – 500 gms / ½ kg ( Get chicken with the bone)
- Oil – 1 tbsp
- Coconut – 2 tbsp
- Red Onion/ Shallots – 12 shallots or 2 small sized onion,/ 1 cup (chopped)
- Curry leaves – 1 sprig
- Tomatoes – 2 small , finely chopped
- Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
- Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
- Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp, chopped finely
- Salt – to taste
To roast & grind: - Curry leaves - 6
- Fennel seeds – 2 tbsp
- Poppy seeds – 3 tsp
- Ginger – 1 inch
- Garlic – 3 pods
- Cloves - 2
- Cinnamon – 1 inch
- Dried whole Red chilli - 3
- Pepper balls – 1 tbsp
- Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
- Red onion - 1 small-medium sized , ¾ cup, chopped
- Cumin seeds – 2 tsp
- Roasting & Grinding:
- Roast everything under “roast & grind” in medium to low heat for 5-7 minutes until the onions turn brown a bit.
- Add coconut to it, sauté for a minute and when it warm enough to grind, add the chilli powder and enough water to blend it smoothly. Blend it and set aside.]br]
Gravy preparation - Heat oil in a pan, add the shallots, curry leaves, bit of salt and sauté till transparent.
- Add in chopped tomatoes, turmeric and sauté till the tomatoes are nicely cooked.
- When the tomatoes are cooked, add in the ground masala paste with chicken pieces. Add salt as per taste.
- Cooker: If you are cooking in pressure cooker, close the cooker and leave it for 4 whistles in medium heat.
- Pan: If you are cooking in pan, keep it in simmer on low flame for 35-45 minutes till its cooked perfectly. Stir it every 10 minutes so that it does not stick to the pan.
- Open the cooker, mix well and add the chopped coriander leaves to garnish.