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Recipe-1 › Curries of the world › Chettinad chicken

Chettinad, Tamil Nadu, India

Chettinad chicken

A fiery, peppery chicken curry from the Chettiar community of Tamil Nadu. What makes it Chettinad is a masala of whole spices roasted and ground fresh: black pepper, fennel, dried red chillies, coriander seeds and coconut.

Close to the base recipe Hot

Too hot for you? Use half the chilli (powder, paste or fresh chillies) and leave out the green chillies.

New here? How this page works

Recipe-1 is one simple curry recipe in nine steps: fry onions and green chillies, add your vegetables or meat, add chilli powder and turmeric, then water and salt, and boil. With small changes the same nine steps make curries from all over the world.

This page takes those nine steps and shows what to change to make Chettinad chicken. You don’t need to read anything else first: every base step is written out below. The changes are worked out on paper from what is typical for this dish; not yet kitchen-tested. Cooked it? Tell others how it went.

Green: the base recipe step (crossed out = do not use it for this dish)Red: what to do instead for Chettinad chicken

See the full base recipe (with timers and tips) · See all curries on the world map

You’ll need

How many people?4

The amounts change with the number of people; cooking times stay about the same (use a bigger pot for more). Taste as you go: you can always add more chilli or salt, but you cannot take it out.

Main ingredient: 750 g Chicken on the bone.

From the base recipe

  • 2 Onions
  • 2 Green chillies
  • 3 tbsp Cooking oil
  • Red chilli powder not used
  • ½ tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tsp · 250 ml Salt and water
  • 1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
  • 3 · 3 · 3 cm Cloves, cardamom and cinnamon
  • Garam masala (optional) not used

Add for Chettinad chicken

  • 1 tbsp Black pepper
  • 1 tsp Fennel seeds
  • 6 Dried red chillies
  • 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
  • 3 tbsp Grated coconut
  • 1 Star anise
  • 1 sprig Curry leaves
  • 1 Tomato
  • 1 tsp Kalpasi (stone flower), if you can find it

Leave out

  • Vegetables

The nine steps, with the changes

Where a step has a red line, do the red line and not the crossed-out green base step. Steps with only green are done just as in the base recipe.

  1. Base step: do not useCut onions and chillies.

    Chettinad chicken: do thisCut onions, chillies and one tomato.

  2. Base step: do not useFry in some oil for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.

    Chettinad chicken: do thisFry with a sprig of curry leaves and the whole spices (step B) plus a star anise. Add ginger garlic paste.

  3. Base step: do not useCut the vegetable(s) of your choice.

    Chettinad chicken: do thisUse chicken. Meanwhile, dry-roast the pepper, fennel, red chillies, coriander seeds and coconut, then grind them.

  4. Add them and fry for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.

  5. Base step: do not useAdd red chilli powder and turmeric.

    Chettinad chicken: do thisUse the ground Chettinad masala in place of chilli powder; keep the turmeric.

  6. Keep frying until just before they start browning.

  7. Add some water.

  8. Add salt.

  9. Base step: do not useBoil until the gravy is as thick as you like.

    Chettinad chicken: do thisBoil until the chicken is cooked through and the gravy thick and dark.

Serve: With rice, parotta or dosa.

For meat and seafood, make sure it is cooked through: chicken until no pink remains inside; mutton, goat and beef need long, slow cooking.

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