Kozhi Nirachathu – Malabar Style Stuffed Chicken with Gravy
- luvlittlehearts
- Feb 5, 2016
- 3 min read
Ingredients:
1 kilogram Whole chicken
Marinade: 3 Tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder 1 tsp turmeric powder 1 Tbsp Lime juice 1 tsp salt or as required 3-4 tbsp water
Ingredients for Egg stuffing: 2-3 tsp vegetable oil/coconut oil/olive oil 1 or 2 Eggs 3 medium size (325g) onions sliced thinly (3 cups) 2-4 slit green chillies 1 twig curry leaves ½ Tbsp ginger, minced ½ Tbsp garlic, minced ¼ cup (28g) cashews (Optional) 1 Tbsp raisins (optional) ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder/paprika ½ tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp coriander powder Little salt to taste Ingredients for the gravy: 4 medium size (385g) onions, sliced and then chopped into small pieces (2 ¾ cup) 2 twig curry leaves 3 large tomatoes (240g) chopped (1 ½ cups) 3/4 - 1 Tbsp freshly minced ginger 3/4 - 1 Tbsp freshly minced garlic 2-4 green chillies split lengthwise 1 ½ tsp fennel seeds powdered (1/2 heaped tablespoon) 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder/paprika ½ tsp turmeric powder 2 tsp coriander powder ½ tsp garam masala powder A handful of coriander leaves, chopped
Method: Clean the chicken well and make shallow incision on the thick part of chicken. Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients under marinade. Cover with a cling film and place it in the refrigerator for a minimum of two hours or overnight.
Make the egg stuffing: Boil eggs, peel and keep aside. Heat oil in a saucepan and sauté the cashews until golden and sauté the raisins until it puffs up. Remove from the pan and keep them aside along with the eggs. In the same pan, add the sliced onions, curry leaves, green chillies, ginger and garlic and sauté till onion turns brown. Add all the spice powders (turmeric powder, coriander powder and chilli powder) and sauté till it leaves aroma. Add raisins and cashews if using and mix well. Add eggs and mix well. Stuff the chicken with this mixture taking care not to over stuff it. Insert the eggs first and then the onion masala
Make the gravy and brief-fry the chicken: Heat 4 Tbsp of oil in a large frying pan or wok and shallow fry the chicken in medium heat briefly just for few minutes until all side are lightly browned. It may take 10-15 minutes for the whole chicken. Remove the chicken and drain on a kitchen towel. In the same pan, add the sliced onions, curry leaves, green chillies, ginger and garlic and sauté till onion turns brown. Add tomatoes and sauté on medium heat till they start to breakdown. Add the spice powders (turmeric powder, coriander powder, fennel powder and chilli powder) and sauté till it forms a mass and tomatoes are pulpy. Add little water if the mixture is dry. Add coriander leaves and sprinkle garam masala. Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes more.
Final cooking: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade. Spread half of the gravy masala on to a baking tray/pyrex dish and place the half fried chicken on the masala. Spread rest of masala on the chicken. Cover the entire dish with foil. Place it in the centre rack of oven and bake for about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for further 10 minutes. Serve the chicken with a simple tomato+cucumber salad.
Happy Cooking!
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