Kerala Roadside Chicken Recipe (2024)

When you do run across fresh curry leaves you should buy more than you need. They freeze well. Just drop them in a baggie and press out the air. They'll keep for months.

Roasting the chicken in the oven ( add a tablespoon of coconut or safflower oil to the marinade) rather than frying also works well and is much healthier. Lots of fresh coriander garnish makes it delicious

Is there a best substitute for coconut oil?

Indian food without salt? Blasphemy. Without at least a little added salt, the spice blend is muddy and muted. The salt brings brightness and clarity to the seasonings. Trying to enjoy Indian food without salt is like visiting the Louvre and never taking off your sunglasses. You can see the art - and it is beautiful - but you'll never experience it fully.

3 cups of coconut oil plus 1/4 cup sounds like an awful lot of oil for such a small amount of chicken, no?

I plan to cook this dish shortly, however I would make the following alterations: I would use dark meat instead of white meat. I would garnish using the shallots, lime and maybe some some mint. Instead of frying I would barbecue.

Any oil that has a high smoke point will work, such as safflower oil, peanut oil, corn oil, etc... you just need it to be hot.

That is a lot, keep in mind this is a roadside receipe which means very fattening and mainly for drunks. I would use judgement in all receipts, including this one.

Minor comment on all the "cautious" reactions to coconut oil...the science on CO has caught up over the last decade. The knee-jerk reaction that it's an unhealthy oil has been reversed.If you are up on all the science and still have good reasons for not using it, then great. If you are working off the old "saturated fat is automatically bad" paradigm, it may be worth reevaluating.CO has a strong following in the health community.But each to his own. Peace.

This dish is vastly improved if you use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of chicken breast. The dark meat really works wonders with this spice mixture. The spice stuck to the meat a lot better with the dark meat, and formed a crispy shell around it, while also preventing it from being too dry. 3 cups is way too much oil. You can get away with making this with a half cup of coconut oil or even less to cut down on the greasiness, and still have the yummy comfort of fried chicken!

Grapeseed oil has a high smoke point and has far less saturated fat (1.3g vs 13.6g) than coconut oil.

Unlike in the North, Keralites do not use yoghurt for marinating meat or seafood (when you are on the roadside, there is no place to store the yogurt!).

This is a lot of coconut oil! Reduce by a third and sauté, brown and finish in oven for 15-20 minutes for perfect cooking. Also I would marinate the chicken in 3 tbsp yogurt and a squeeze of lime as well to tenderize the meat and cook it faster. Try adding coriander powder to the spices to add another layer of flavor, and the best companion to curry leaves and red chilies for the garnish is to use a teaspoon of mustard seeds. Put them in first, let them splutter, then add the other two.

Not for flavor, coconut oil imparts a coconut flavor that works very well in curries. It also keeps for a long time, so don't hesitate to buy some.

Don’t skip the coconut oil if you can tolerate it and use unprocessed coconut oil to get the coconut flavor that comes with it.Only use a few tablespoons and fry it in a wok at high temp in batches. Gets just as crispy and tender as deep fry.One of our all time favorite dishes to make with chicken, so satisfying and the perfect amount of flavor and spice.

Instantly a go-to dish. One of those ones you think about all the next day, and imagine which friends will enjoy it. Perfect as a coffee-table feast for a TV binge, with a few crudities and dips on the side. The paratha absolutely makes it - I’d never used frozen ones before, but they are a revelation.On advice of others here, I dis this with just a few tablespoons of coconut oil instead of a few cups. DELICIOUS.

I really enjoyed the flavors and found the Kashmiri chile powde not to spicy which was great. I bought a pre grilled flatbread which I warmed and made a cucumber salad with a sour cream and lemon dressing to offset the heat which paired nicely. The only addition I made was a couple of lemon wedges to squirt onto the chicken. I’ll surely make this again. A pleasant and filling meal that was totally worth it and unexpected.

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes. The only change I made was using thighs instead of breasts. The large amount of oil is necessary to "deep fry" the chicken. But since there's no flour or starch, the oil doesn't stick to the meat the way it might with a traditional breadcrumb/flour crust. It did not come out oily at all. The curry leaves are fantastic in it.

Love this dish!!! Add extra ginger if possible

Double fried, needed flaky salt at the end. Very good, would make again as a double batch.

This was delicious. As some suggested, I used a lot less coconut oil. It was easy to fry the chicken in the oil at medium heat, then flip it over. Curry leaves were easy to find (like for $2/bag) in an Indian grocery.

I made a version of this dish inspired by the spice mixes. Not an authentic version of this dish (no disrespect to what this dish is supposed to be) but it was delicious. After letting the chicken soak up the spices, I sauteed it in a pan with 3 tablespoons of oil. When lightly browned, I added coconut milk. Once everything was well blended and the spices permeated the coconut milk, I added slivered onions and quartered mushrooms and simmered. Served over rice. Garnished with fresh cilantro.

Like others, I would consider a mix of sautéing and oven-baking to limit the amount of coconut oil consumed in this recipe. Coconut oil has been mistakenly considered healthy because of good marketing. It is predominantly made up of Lauric acid, which raises total and "bad" cholesterol levels, albeit less so than butter. Everyone deserves some indulgence once in a while, but the myths surrounding coconut oil have been debunked.

Delicious. Made it exactly as written except for a few minor tweaks. Doubled the garlic, Kashmiri chile powder and dried red chiles. Let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator closer to four hours. Did the garnish in the same pan used to fry the chicken since the oil was already in there and heated. Truly incredible, can't wait to make it again.

I used a half cup of coconut oil. Plenty.

I was short on time and skipped the garnish step, but it was still quite tasty. The chicken breast wasn't flavorful enough; I wonder how it would be with lamb or pork. Oh, I shallow fried the meat (life is too short to clean up the mess from deep frying!)

I used chicken thighs. I only used a tiny bit of oil (a teaspoon or so if that) to fry the chicken in my enamel griddle pan and that was plenty - I used coconut oil. It was absolutely delicious!! I will make this again and try it with tofu next time. So authentic tasting and just the right amount of spice. I didn't add the chili powder, but it was still divine. thank you for this fabulous recipe!

Two things:Garam masala is a North Indian spice mixture. I’m surprised it’s in any South Indian recipe. Is this a short cut? Common for this dish? Anyone know?Step 4 is called a tadka. It’s a common finish to a Southern dish. The recipe doesn’t mention is that curry leaves splutter when they hit the hot oil. Have a lid ready when you add the to the oil. The the leaves should turn almost translucent. When the noise and splatter dies down, then add the chilies. Don’t burn them. Done.

I am heat intolerant. Is there a way to cut the heat without terribly changing the flavor of this dish?