Coconut Chicken Curry Recipe

Coconut chicken curry recipe is one of the Indian chicken curry recipes. I think it is a pretty easy chicken curry recipe, made by using fresh ingredients which are ground to a paste to form the base of the gravy.

If you are throwing a formal dinner and are looking to cook some curry chicken recipes, I would suggest give this one a try. Once you have put this on stove, you can forget about it for at least half an hour. This is how I do it. First, I make the onion paste and start sauteing it. Meanwhile, I make the rest of two pastes. When I put the chicken in the gravy, I cover it and go out to water the plants (a few pots that I have). The idea is to get busy elsewhere when the chicken is cooking. This coconut chicken curry recipe doesn't need constant monitoring. Although, stir the chicken every once in a while.

Let it cook for a good 30 minutes or more till it becomes very soft.

Following are the ingredients you need to make this yummy coconut chicken curry recipe.

* 700g chicken (skinless, on the bone cut into small pieces)

Make a paste of the following, separately and keep aside.

* Paste I - 2 small onions, 3 inch piece of ginger, 6-7 cloves of garlic.

* Paste II - 3 medium tomatoes and 3 green chilies (please use chilies to taste)

* Paste III - 1 piece of fresh coconut (a little less than 1/4 of a standard fresh coconut) and 10 blanched and peeled almonds.

* 2 Tbsp oil
* 1/4 Tsp shahi jeera (caraway seeds or kala jeera)
* 2 green cardamoms
* 4 cloves
* 1 Bay leaf
* 1 cm of cinnamon stick
* 1 Tsp turmeric powder
* 2 Tbsp coriander powder
* salt to taste
* 1 Tsp red chili powder (to taste)
* 3 Tbsp tomato puree (ready made)

Method

Heat oil in a non stick cooking pot (kadai) and add the cloves, jeera, bay leaf, cardamoms and cinnamon. Allow them to crackle and the add the onion paste. Cook on a high flame initially. Then on a low to medium flame, stirring occasionally, till it becomes dry and eventually light pinkish brown in color. By this time any raw smell of onion should have subsided.

Add the pureed tomatoes, turmeric and coriander powder. Cook on high till it becomes dry and you can see little droplets of oil oozing out on the sides (well you won't see a lot of oil as we did not begin by adding lots in the first place.)

Add the chicken pieces, chili powder, salt, tomato puree and saute in the masala for 4-5 minutes, on a high flame, stirring constantly.

Now add a cup of water and mix it together with chicken. When boiled, add the coconut and almond paste and mix again. Add more water if required. Cook covered for at least half an hour, till the chicken becomes very tender. Occasionally stir in between.

Garnish with fresh chopped coriander.

Serve hot with roti/chapati or rice and enjoy!