TRADITIONAL COUNTRY CHICKEN CURRY GUN POWDER TOSSED STEAMED RICE PUDDING - IDLI

Traditional Country chicken curry,

Steamed savory rice pudding (Idli) tossed in gunpowder.

 

Serves:  2

Course: starter

For chicken wings

4 country chicken wings

40 mL coconut oil

2 g mustard seed

1 whole red chilli

4 curry leaves

3 g chopped ginger

4 g chopped garlic

50 g chopped onion

3 g turmeric powder

5 g coriander powder

5 g red chilli powder

50 g chopped tomato

50 mL coconut milk

Salt to taste

For spice fried idli

1 idli (page 110)

20 mL clarified butter

5 g gunpowder (page 124)

Salt to taste

Clean and trim chicken wings, keeping the skin intact for flavour.

Heat oil and add mustard seeds and red chilli; allow mustard to crackle. By then, the red chilli must have turned dark brown; remove and discard. The chilli is used for infusing the flavour.

Sautéing continuously, immediately add ginger, then garlic. When this turns golden, add onion; sauté until light brown.

Now add the chicken pieces, and sprinkle salt in the sauce until the skin gets caramel-coloured. Salt helps in getting colour quickly by removing water from the skin.

When the chicken is coloured, add all powdered spices and sauté for 30 seconds. If the pan is hot, sauté by removing from direct fire; this helps prevent the spices from being burned.

Add chopped tomato and allow it cook for a minute. Add water just to get enough sauce to cover the chicken wings.

Allow to cook over medium heat; check frequently to ensure you get enough liquid.

Once the chicken is cooked, finish with coconut milk; check and adjust seasoning.

For spice fried idli

Dice idli into 10 equal cubes as shown in the picture; each plate gets 5. Heat a flat pan and sauté idli pieces in clarified butter.

Once the golden colour is achieved, sprinkle with gunpowder and salt. Keep in a kitchen towel in a warm place.

For plating

Consider using a deep pasta plate. Place the wings with a spoon of sauce in the centre; arrange idli pieces around, keeping equal distances between chicken and idli; spoon on the sauce; and garnish with micro herbs. We used mustard flower as it goes with the flavour.

Suggestions:

For restaurants, this is a brilliant idea of utilizing one dish for garnish and as a bread side portion. For home, this is a recycling idea for extra idlis that were cooked for breakfast.

Try the chicken curry recipe with other chicken parts, boneless pieces if it’s a restaurant. Then it’s best to add some chicken stock for more flavour and body for the curry sauce.