CHICKEN SUKKA

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 lb/500g bite size skinless chicken pieces (bone or boneless)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon garlic and ginger paste
• 1 red onion (thinly sliced)
• 5 green cardamoms
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• few fresh curry leaves
• 2 teaspoons ghee
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

for the spice mix

• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorn
• 5 cloves
• 2 cinnamon bark
• 3 kashmiri dry red chili
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 cup freshly grated/ frozen coconut

INSTRUCTIONS 

1. Marinate the chicken pieces with ½ tablespoon of salt and lemon juice for 15 minutes.
2. Place a pan at medium heat and add all the whole spices that are mentioned under the ingredients list for spice mix. Also, pour the oil and stir around for 1 minute. Add the coconut and sauté for 1 minute. Place everything in a spice grinder and grind everything to a coarse texture. Leave it aside to be used later.
3. Place the same pan at medium heat. Pour 1 tablespoon of oil and once the oil heats up, drop the green cardamom followed by ginger and garlic paste. Sauté for 1 minute and then, scatter the onion slices. Add rest of the salt and turmeric, cook for 3 minutes or until the onions are softened.
4. Drop the spice mix and toss around to mix everything. Add the marinated chicken, fresh curry leaves and mix everything. Cover the pan and let it cook for 15 minutes.
5. Remove the lid and toss everything. The chicken should be cooked by now but depending on how big the pieces were, it might take more time.
6. Once the chicken is cooked through, check for salt and add any, if needed. Finally, pour the ghee, toss around and it’s ready to serve.