Ulli Kozhi/ Chicken Cry With Lots of Onion

Its cold out there (below zero..brr..r.)and it snowed yesterday. It's slushy and snowy and the roads are horrible. The schools are opening late so the kids are loving the weather but for the poor commuters, its havoc on the streets with accidents and delays.

Thankfully I am home, wrapped up in a warm clothes but still chilled to the bone. Anyway, it's the perfect season to make this yummy spicy chicken cry (a cross between a curry and a fry)and some parathas or madikki pathiris. This is my friend's recipe and though I kept making it, never got around to blogging it before. Thanks Ki! You are right, it goes well with almost everything.

For those who like the gravy more than the meat (and scrape up the gravy leaving the pieces behind :)), this is a perfect dish as you can't really separate the two with the gravy clinging so happily to the meat that there are no bland spots left. The coconut oil and curry leaves reminded me of some of the Kerala Resort style cooking. If made with boneless chicken, can be a rich appetizer. Yum!!

Notes: Use small pieces of chicken and do fry the tomatoes too. The oil daunted me a bit earlier but its not really a lot if you consider how much gets used up in frying. You could microwave the onions in a microwave safe plate for 5 minutes or so to cut down the frying time if you want to.

You will need:
Chicken -1 kg cut in pieces
Onion- 4 medium sized ones (2-3 cups chopped)
Tomato- 3 medium sized ones diced
Lemon Juice- 1 lemon’s juice.
Salt to taste

Spice Masala(to be ground together)
Red chili powder- 2 1/2 tea spoon
Turmeric- ½ teas spoon
Ginger- ½ inch piece
Garlic- 4
Cinnamon- 1 inch piece
Cardamom -3
Pepper -1 table spoon
Oil (coconut oil tastes the best.) But any oil can be used-1/4 cup more or less
Curry leaves- A handful
Coriander leaves – A Handful

Preparation:
After cleaning and cutting chicken , wash it well and let it drain in a colander. Marinate the chicken with ½ teaspoon each of the chill powder, turmeric and salt , lemon juice for 1/2 hr.

Slice the onion into thin long slices. Heat oil, add the onion and fry them on medium heat till golden brown and crisp. This should take about 8-10 minutes. Make sure they don't burn. The less the oil you use, more chances of it getting burnt.

Remove the onions and keep aside. After keeping aside 1/4th of the fried onions for garnish, crush the rest with hand or give a quick whip in a processor. (Don’t make it into fine paste) Just one pulse should be enough.

In the same oil, fry the cut tomatoes for about 3-4 minutes and keep aside.
Then add the ground masala and fry on low heat until the oil runs clear. Now add the marinated chicken, fried tomatoes, crushed onions to the masala ,mix well and let the water come out of the chicken. If there is not enough water, add ½ cup water to cook.

Cover and cook on low heat. The chicken should get cooked in about 15 minutes on low heat, but keep checking and stirring.

Add more salt and adjust taste as necessary.
Don't add too much of water as this not a gravy dish, more like a cry and tastes best with the whole onion masala sticking nicely to the chicken. Garnish with fried onion, curry leaves and coriander.
Goes well with almost everything…appam, puttu, paratha….