Coconut Chicken for beginners :D

Before you raise your eyebrows at the sight of a recipe here, lemme tell you that this is the only proper dish I can make. My cooking skills are limited to tea, coffee, omelette, maggi and some fritters (only if you call that cooking!!). Yes, just boiling and frying. Good enough to keep me and sis alive for a weekend if mum isn't at home. 

So when Blogadda came up with this contest to come up with your signature dish, I couldn't think of anything apart from this one and I badly wanted to cook up something, literally!! 

Before I start with the real thing, I would like to say that this is not something I invented by myself. I had seen my neighbor cook this yummy dish as a kid, back when I was in Kochi. So all credits for the recipe goes to Radhika aunty for teaching me the only edible dish I can make. This one is the simplest and the fastest method to cook chicken. Just five steps and you are done. 

Coming to the dish now, I am using Fortune Rice Bran Health oil.
This is what wikipedia says about this : "Rice bran oil (also known as rice bran extract) is the oil extracted from the germ and inner husk of rice. It is notable for its high smoke point of 213°C (415°F) and its mild flavor, making it suitable for high-temperature cooking methods such as stir frying and deep frying."
While cooking fried dishes, it has always been a battle between taste and health. Now you have to fret no more as rice bran oil brings both taste and health together. It has plentiful of anti oxidants and is helpful in reducing blood cholesterol amongst many other significant health benefits. It is a perfect substitute for Olive oil as Olive oil has a low smoking point and is not suitable for frying.
Take a look at this chart to know better-

Click on the picture to have a better resolution.

Now to the real thing 

INGREDIENTS

Half a kilogram of chicken, diced.

For the Tadka

1) A few Fenugreek (methi) grains

2) Some Mustard seeds

3) A few Curry Leaves

4)  2-3 teaspoons of oil (Yes just that little for the entire dish. Cooking chicken doesn't get healthier)

For The Chicken Coating

For half a kilogram of diced chicken, you need

1) 1/3 of a medium sized coconut, grated
2) 1 small tomato, diced
3) 1 small onion, diced
4) 3 - 4 green chilies
5) 4 - 5 garlic cloves
6) 1 stick of ripe tamarind (imli)
7) 1 small stick of ginger, diced or cut into slivers
8) 1 teaspoon of coriander ( dhania) powder
9) 1 small spoonful of red chili powder
10) Salt to taste
11) 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
12) A bunch of curry leaves
13) A few cups of water

PREPARATION TIME :  20-25 minutes based on the chicken pieces. Smaller the pieces, faster they will cook. So if you are in a hurry to get the dish done, get smaller sized pieces.

The macro ingredients

The micro ingredients

The Procedure

STEP 1-  MAKE THE PASTE

 Put all of the ingredients for the chicken coating  into the mixer and churn into a thick paste. You can add a little water but make sure the paste is thick, grainy and coarse and not very smooth and runny. The idea is to just whip them into an even mixture. A runny mixture will make the entire thing soggy.

STEP 2- COAT THE CHICKEN

Now coat all the chicken pieces evenly with the paste.

STEP 3- THE TADKA

In a pan / kadhai pour about 2-3 teaspoons full of Fortune Rice Bran Health oil and let it heat up. Then add curry leaves, fenugreek grains and whole mustard grains. Don't add more than 5-6 fenugreek grains and 10-12 grains of mustard, else it will get bitter. Now let it sprinkle and splutter a little.

STEP 4- ADD THE CHICKEN

Add the chicken pieces coated with the paste and add about 1/4 cup of water to the pan and reduce the flame to the lowest and cover the pan / kadhai with a lid. Stir slowly every 5 minutes. Let the whole thing cook by itself for about 20-25 minutes. Taste for salt and add a little more if required. Poke with a fork to check if the chicken is tender enough.

STEP 5- NOM NOM ( EAT  )

Your coconut chicken is ready. Serve with rice or roti. I like to have mine with rotis or parathas because this one is a tad bit on the thicker side. I love more saucy preparations with rice.

You can try the same method to cook fish, if you prefer.
Please try this one and let me know your thoughts. Hope you like it.  

Till next,
Bon Appetit!!!  

This post is a part of Healthy & Tasty Recipe Contest with Fortune Rice Bran Health Oil & BlogAdda.com