Nadan Kozhi Curry/ Malabar Chicken Curry

This is the traditional chicken masala curry made on a regular basis in my mom’s house. She makes it when there are impromptu guests for breakfast with pathiris, or for dinner with neichoru or madikki pathiri.
For a long time, I had been adding variations to this recipe, but gradually gravitated away it, finally forgetting the original recipe. So it was a pleasure to get it back from my mom and start over again.
This chicken curry uses most of the whole spices locally available in Kerala, which in turn gives it its unique flavour, associated widely with Malabar curries. You could omit adding more water in the end to make it a Chicken Masala (Kozhi Varatiyathu).

Cooking time: 25 mins Preparation time is another 10 mins
You will need:
Chicken-2 lb, (750gm) cleaned and cut into small pieces.
Onions- 2.5 cups chopped (3 medium sized one)
Tomatoes-2 cup tomatoes (2 medium sized ones)
Green chilies - 6 chopped
Ginger–Garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 3/4 tsp
Red chili powder- 2 tsp (more or less as per taste..this will be spicy)
Coriander powder-3 tsp
Whole spices: 2”long Cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, 3 cardamom
Pepper- ¼ tsp (whole or crushed)
Leaves: Coriander, Mint, each a small handful, chopped
Salt - to taste
Oil-4 tbsp
Curry leaves – one sprig

Preparation Method
1. Wash the chicken and lightly toss it with lemon juice and rinse again. Drain well onto a slotted drainer.
2. Heat the oil in a large shallow pan, add the whole spices. Sauté till the fragrance fills the air and then add onions.
3. Fry onions till transparent and add chilies, ginger and garlic and stir well. Then add the tomatoes, all the spices and chicken and cook uncovered on low heat till water comes out. Do not add any water: it will prevent the spice powders from getting cooked. This will take between 10-15 minutes. Keep stirring to avoid the spices from getting stuck to the pan.
4. Add salt and the pepper. Check to see if the chicken is cooked. If there is no water, add ½ cup water and now cook it covered for five minutes to let the chicken cook well. Add ¾ water to make extra gravy and let it boil well. Add the leaves, leaving the coriander leaves for the last, after switching off the flame.