Chicken 'Kerala' [recipics]

Chicken 'Kerala' [1]
Credits: A2Fay (for the most part), documentation by Sazerac

Acknowledgement: EatChicago's thread on exploring "Authentic Mexican" and other recentor otherwise inspiring posts
Don Miguel Comechicago y Professore Dio Italiano, if you see this, consider my offer – will cook for food


Preface
Indian home cooking is quite different from that of restaurants. Cookbooks, for the most part (especially those in English), do not represent such home cooking. One 'cookbook', a fairly treasured possession of mine, is a collection of recipes by housewives, members of womens' association(s). These recipes – some great, some just good, some obviously flawed in technique or other detail, some I have no idea – are an excellent representation of home cooking and then some. While many regions/cuisines are covered – from Kashmiri dishes such as Tabak Maaz to Indo-Burmese takes such as Panthe Khowsuey – the common factor is that each one (some sections notwithstanding) is by a home cook and that person's name appears along with the recipe. This is important information as it becomes another factor with which to evaluate the recipes [2].


The following is loosely based [3] on a recipe called 'Chicken Kerala' attributed to one Ms. George in The N.I.A.W. Cookbook [4]. The name itself suggests it is a sort of 'generic' homestyle dish served in a household in Kerala. It turned out quite well, with deep rich flavours of the spices and the coconut milk; think beef rendang, except this was lighter being a chicken dish. The addition of curry leaves, surprisingly not in the original recipe, gives it the deep flavour and aromaticity that is quintessential to dishes of that region. I was reminded of 'simple' dishes tasted at roadside stalls in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

For two pounds of chicken – preferably (small) legs and thighs – I actually used large wings (remnants of Superbowl XL) and a couple of cut up breasts, all skinless [5,6] (that's what I had at hand):

Toast together lightly till fragrant, then grind to powder -
Coriander seeds (whole): 2 tsp
Black peppercorn (whole): 2 tsp
Red chili (to taste) (I used four small ones, though only two are in pic)

Add to the powder (not before otherwise it won't get fine enough), and paste
Garlic: 5 medium/large cloves
Salt: 1 Tbsp (I used kosher)
turmeric powder: ¼ tsp
Add Vinegar: 1 Tbsp
Apply this thick paste to the chicken pieces. Massage well , and let sit at ambient room temperature for 30 to 40 mins. (longer than that would require refrigeration).

click for larger image



Add chicken (with marinade) and coconut milk – 200 mL (that's half a 400 mL/13.5 fl. oz. can; I used Chaokoh brand; shake can well before opening) to a pot, bring to a very low simmer, cover with loose lid – 25 mins. Once chicken is half-cooked, add
Onion – 1 medium or ½ large, sliced into rings
Ginger – 2 Tbsp minced (original recipe calls for ½" piece in slices, but A2Fay and I both dislike biting into pieces of ginger)
Stir, cover gently and continue on low simmer [7]. Meanwhile cut
Potatoes – 4 medium. Cook this in a little (3 Tbsp) oil in a saute pan, with cover so that the potatoes cook but don't brown and form a crust. notvery good example shown. Then brown
Onion – 1 medium or other ½ of large – sliced into rings
Set the (mostly cooked) potatoes and browned onions aside. At this point the chicken should be done or continue (total simmering time 25mins + approx. 20mins). Now add upto 3 Tbsp oil in sauté pan, pick out and brown chicken pieces (in two or more batches). At this point the pot with chicken needs no cover and the heat can be raised if there is a lot of liquid. Set the initial browned pieces aside whilst browning the rest.

Pot herein, refers to the vessel used for simmering, the one we used was a karhai but any pot that will hold the chciken and liquid will do. The other pan is a sauté pan used for frying.



As you are browning the last batch of chicken, to the thick 'gravy' in the original pan with the coconut milk add the potatoes and onions along with a few curry leaves[7]. Add also
Curry leaves (10 –12; include stem broken up) to the last batch of browning chicken (or after) and fry the leaves (push into oil, see pic) to release their aroma.


Taste for salt – if more is required dissolve some in a little water and add to pot, stir, increase heat if much liquid remains. Add all the chicken pieces back to pot, mix (careful not to break up the potatoes too much – the potatoes should absorb some of the liquid and thicken it). Deglaze sauté pan if necessary with a little water to loosen all the tasty crisp bits and add to pot. At this point, there should not be much liquid but a thick paste of a 'gravy' with the chicken and potatoes.


Along with some store bought parathas (or Malay or Thai 'roti')


A very satisfying dinner



«««««Notes»»»»»

1. Kerala, the Southwest coastal Indian state has a cuisine which combines it rich abundance of spices and bounty of coconuts.
Another regional Indian cuisine that shares this to some extent is that of Karnataka – especially Mangalore which lying just North of Kerala is part of the Malabar coast. Some Chettinad cooking which is a non-vegetarian cuisine from a part of the state of Tamil Nadu (this borders Kerala to the East) also resembles this. The cuisine of Malaysia which incorporates this Tamil influence and Thai cooking in their use of coconut milk and spices are others that share similarities with Keralan cooking that reflect their common coastal geography. (I'll stop rambling now.)

2. Names reveal the persons region of origin. While this is, of course, not necessarily indicative of that person's culinary skills pertaining to a particular region, as far as home cooking is concerned I find that cooks from different regions have quite different sensibilities and perspectives that affect their versions of dishes from other regions. FWIW.


3. Like EatChicago, I tend to use recipes as rough guides more than as exact procedures. Also, I rarely cook the amounts directed in recipes for practical considerations.

4. National Indian Association of Women, Calcutta. This cookbook is not sold in stores and does not have an ISBN associated with it. Another reason I thought it might be worth a post.

5. Chicken in Indian cooking is, for the most part, used without skin.

6. Such dishes usually use a whole chicken cut up into small pieces. Thighs would be cut in two, as would legs. I generally dislike this as it lets tiny fragments of bone loose. I tend to use small legs and thighs, making deep slits in the pieces.

7. A few curry leaves may be added to the simmering pot for a deeper flavour along with the onions and ginger. We added it later in the process. The 'original' recipe does not use curry leaves. A2Fay (and I) decided it should be included and were glad for the addition.

Some additional comments: Some things I like about this recipe are the (fairly) low use of oil, not having to fry the garlic which leads to lingering smells in my apt. especially in the less ventilated Winter (the curry leaves and other overall aroma dissipates much more readily). The simmering and browning also seemed to fully cook the garlic – I was initially not sure if all that garlic would be troublesome to digest if not fully cooked.

Edited to clarify, correct spelling

Sazerac:

Stunning post -- clarity and detail of explanation, utility of illustrations, quality of commentary, ma che bravo!!! I'd really like to try to make this dish and maybe try A2Fay's and your rendering. Thanks to you both.

Now, a few questions and comments...

1) The pan/wok you use for the frying, whence comes it?

2)

2. Names reveal the persons region of origin. While this is, of course, not necessarily indicative of that person's culinary skills pertaining to a particular region, as far as home cooking is concerned I find that cooks from different regions have quite different sensibilities and perspectives that affect their versions of dishes from other regions. FWIW.

An excellent point. I see the same thing in the cuisines I know best and this effect one can see with cookbook authors too. For example, I generally find the approach of a northerner, such as Marcella Hazan, to central and southern Italian dishes that I know from familial experience to be a little off. That's not to say at all that the results would necessarily be bad but the different background sensibilities result sometimes in changes away from the traditional regional approach (and indeed, sometimes such changes may strike some as fortuitous improvements). It is, of course, possible to avoid such skewing to some degree but many or most cookbook authors don't bother.

The recipe collection you are dealing with here sounds quite interesting and rewarding and it seems that the deconstructive analysis, as it were, is part of the fun of using it.

3.

5. Chicken in Indian cooking is, for the most part, used without skin.

What do you do with all the skin?

4.

6. Such dishes usually use a whole chicken cut up into small pieces. Thighs would be cut in two, as would legs. I generally dislike this as it lets tiny fragments of bone loose. I tend to use small legs and thighs, making deep slits in the pieces.

And breast halved in three... I very much agree here. If you have a chicken cut up by an Arab butcher, the small piece approach is what you get and that often means bone fragments (you can wash most away but sometimes they sneak through).

Again, many thanks to A2Fay and you.

Antonius

Wow! Someone here is wasting a career...Das, you should quit your day job and start writing cookbooks. Between the superb instructions and the nearly perfect illustrations, you'd be a millionaire. Seriously: this post (like virtually all of this kind that you have made) is excellent. Not only is it fascinating to read, it's clear, concise, and intriguing. And the pictures bring it all together.
Bravo!

(And if you need a lawyer to help negotiate your contracts, just call )

Antonius thanks for the remarks and questions.
Aside: You did catch the 'acknowledgement ' , yes?

Antonius wrote: 1) The pan/wok you use for the frying, whence comes it?

The wok, or rather karhai used for simmering is from India. Carted kindly by my Mum a few years ago when she visited. It is beautiful, hand-hammered and smooth iron – wonderfully non-stick, far more so than my old and now well-seasoned cast-iron skillet. The karhai is a bit small, but great for the two of us, and also useful on the teeny stove-top (two 9" pans will only fit on diagonal burners, not side by side!) in our apartment. On my next trip to India I hope I can get a larger one like that. Sadly most are aluminum now, no cigar.
The (sauté) pan used for frying, is a heavy hard-anodized from Circulon.

An excellent point. I see the same thing in the cuisines I know best and this effect one can see with cookbook authors too. For example, I generally find the approach of a northerner, such as Marcella Hazan, to central and southern Italian dishes that I know from familial experience to be a little off.

The recipe collection you are dealing with here sounds quite interesting and rewarding and it seems that the deconstructive analysis, as it were, is part of the fun of using it.

I suppose one can tell from Italian last names one's region of origin? Of course in these days the world has become rather small and mixed, and one's name hold only the vestiges of some distant region of origin

The recipe collection is great in that it contains in English, diverse regional cooking, most by home cooks whose names suggest they are from that region. The recipes also nice and compact, two to three a page – a list of ingredients and a brief procedure. There is a downside - if one follows recipes strictly details (that may have been obvious to the writer) are missing. However, A2Fay and I have begun to develop sufficient competency to obtain good results.
Actually the sometimes-not-so-obvious is one reason I wanted to try this. Technique-wise I would have thought to brown the chicken first, then simmer. Or if the paste wasn't used as a marinade, first fry the paste in oil and coconut fat(in which case I wouldn't have shaken the can), then add the chicken, brown, and simmer in coconut milk. This would probably be right for curries with more 'gravy' or sauce, but for this dish with its minimal sauce, the orginal procedure works very well.

I hope if/when you (and hopefully others) try this you will post your comments and corrections to the recipe. My appreciation for good (and improved) recipes is greater than the thinness of my skin…

What do you do with all the skin?

Good question. To my (limited) knowledge, animal fat is rarely (if ever) used in Indian cooking. Ghee or highly clarified butter, yes, but not other animal fat (from slaughtered animals or fowl). The skin is typically discarded.

On a related note (meat, vegetable) stocks are also not very common. However stocks made with spices (Yakhni) are used for pulao or pilaff

edited to fix link

Gypsy Boy wrote:Wow! Someone here is wasting a career...Das, you should quit your day job and start writing cookbooks. Between the superb instructions and the nearly perfect illustrations, you'd be a millionaire. Seriously: this post (like virtually all of this kind that you have made) is excellent. Not only is it fascinating to read, it's clear, concise, and intriguing. And the pictures bring it all together.
Bravo!

I appreciate the kind remarks. I haven't yet started my (independent) career, so we'll see… In the meantime, LTHforum is fantastic to enhance my skills. And really, of this kind I have but two posts – thanks for the sentiments and encouragement.

sazerac wrote: haven't yet started my (independent) career, so we'll see…

Make that "My Brilliant Career," sazerac!

sazerac wrote::oops:
I appreciate the kind remarks.

Sazerac,

Add one more "kind", but well deserved remark to the list. Incredible attention to detail and amazingly, clear, concise and easy to follow given the amount of information you encompass.

Oh, and recipics, very cool.

Enjoy,
Gary

saz,

Beautiful dish and excellent instruction. It's something I'm going to try very soon. I'll also be working on the LTHForum.com smell-o-web plug-in so we could all get a whiff of what I can only assume is a beautifully fragrant dish.

I'm humbled by your acknowleging me. Beautiful post.

sazerac wrote:

What do you do with all the skin?

...The skin is typically discarded.

In my culture, this is a crime punishable by a severe beating

Best,
Michael

let me add to all the congrats - saz, I'm glad you've got a digital camera and know how to use it to really show the process.

You're right about the non-home cooking focus of most indian cookbooks, and the one you cooked from sounds great. I have liked the K.M. Mathew kerala cookbooks and the cook and see (tamil) cookbooks that have been reissued by penguin india and are slightly more available - I've seen them in the bookstore next to sukhadia. Have you seen either of these?

by the way, you mentioned chettinad food in one of your notes, I thought I'd take the opportunity to link to a post of mine from some time ago that describes some chettinad food I had in madras and links to a good article on the stuff

sazerac wrote:Antonius thanks for the remarks and questions.
Aside: You did catch the 'acknowledgement ' , yes?

Aye aye... grazie assai...

The wok, or rather karhai used for simmering is from India. Carted kindly by my Mum a few years ago when she visited. It is beautiful, hand-hammered and smooth iron – wonderfully non-stick, far more so than my old and now well-seasoned cast-iron skillet. The karhai is a bit small, but great for the two of us, and also useful on the teeny stove-top (two 9" pans will only fit on diagonal burners, not side by side!) in our apartment. On my next trip to India I hope I can get a larger one like that. Sadly most are aluminum now, no cigar.

Are good quality karhais available at all here in Chicago?

I suppose one can tell from Italian last names one's region of origin? Of course in these days the world has become rather small and mixed, and one's name hold only the vestiges of some distant region of origin.

There are a fair number of Italian names that can be placed with regard to region of origin (e.g., names based on toponyms, names with obvious dialect origins, etc.) but, as you say, as society becomes more mobile, that works less consistently.

Antonius

in looking at the follow-ups to that old chennai post, it turns out that the article link didn't seem to work. so here's one that should work

Antonius wrote:Are good quality karhais available at all here in Chicago?

Not that I know of. I have seen thin ones, but ideally they should be thicker and retain heat. Also all I've seen on Devon (though I have never gone looking) are the Aluminum kind.
Karhais are similar to woks, slightly more rounded than the elliptical woks.
Wondering about Woks thread

-------
Zim, nice link, thanks!

This chicken 'Kerala' is reminiscent of Chettinad food – probably because of the peppercorn and reduced coconut milk flavours.

In another thread Zim wrote:Chennai is IMO an underrated eating city.

I'm not sure why you wrote that. I've (always) known great food in Chennai (formerly Madras). From vegetarian to fantastic non-vegetarian. Last time (after a long while) I was there (Dec. 2004) I went to the ever busy Ponnuswamy for Chettinad food – from seafood to quail, everything served on the banana leaf directly on the table was delectable. (This place is listed in the article you linked to, I think you went to another branch).

Speaking of Chettinad food, A2Fay makes a mean Kozhi Vartha Kari. It's more involved than the simple dish above, but it's been a while; I'll try and be on my best behaviour…

eatchicago wrote:

sazerac wrote:

What do you do with all the skin?

...The skin is typically discarded.

In my culture, this is a crime punishable by a severe beating

Good thing I like chicken skin then.
In cooking with chicken I like it crisp (unlikely in most Indian cooking). Otherwise I save it in the freezer and render it when I remember - nice in Chinese dishes.

sazerac wrote:Zim, nice link, thanks!

This chicken 'Kerala' is reminiscent of Chettinad food – probably because of the peppercorn and reduced coconut milk flavours.

In another thread Zim wrote:Chennai is IMO an underrated eating city.

I'm not sure why you wrote that. I've (always) known great food in Chennai (formerly Madras). From vegetarian to fantastic non-vegetarian. Last time (after a long while) I was there (Dec. 2004) I went to the ever busy Ponnuswamy for Chettinad food – from seafood to quail, everything served on the banana leaf directly on the table was delectable. (This place is listed in the article you linked to, I think you went to another branch).

Speaking of Chettinad food, A2Fay makes a mean Kozhi Vartha Kari. It's more involved than the simple dish above, but it's been a while; I'll try and be on my best behaviour…

Oh, I just notice that when folks speak of eating in India, it is almost always bombay they are talking of, sometimes delhi. In Chennai, I ate at ponnuswamy too, maybe my best meal of my trip to India (its mentioned in that post I made on chennai) though we just lucked out in having a motor ricksha guy tip us to it.

are you gonna document A2Fay's Kozhi Vartha Kari as well?

sazerac -
In jpeac2's thread about the chicken curry: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=12456
You asked for my thoughts on this kerala after I made it. Well, I fried some up last night and, yeah, utterly delicious. Of course, I kinda doctored it to what I thought would be more to my taste by:
1. Using more turmeric
2. a few squeezes of lime juice
3. A dab of a cilantro/lime "chutney"
4. several different chiles - dried jalapeno, dried aleppo, dried ancho, and dried pequin - I always layer heat.
5. a few less curry leaves.
6. a generous sprinkle of chopped cilantro after plating.

I LOVED how the coconut milk smoothed out the heat, and also kind of smoothed out the flavor of the curry leaf, and added a general richness to the whole thing. YUMMMM!!!

Sazerac -
One thing I forgot to ask about condiments, or side dips or whatever you like to refer to them as.

Do you have a few that you always have on hand with indian foods you make? I'm only really adept at making two:

1. I think this one is common. It's the green stuff at Hema's. I asked Hema what it was, and she said it's basically Jalapeno, and Cilantro. I do it with Jalapeno, cilantro, salt and lime juice, and blend it smooth to a wet paste like consistency.

2. An indian coworker (no - do not know where or what region yet) said
his family ALWAYS has a concoction of yogurt or sour cream with cilantro and chile pepper blended in. He says it's usually of a pretty runny consistency. I LOVE this stuff. I do this with S cream, cilantro, chiles, lime juice, S&P, a little bit of Lime pickle, garlic, and blend it smooth. Seems to go great with everything, and, sad to admit, it's the best potato chip dip I've ever had!!!!!

Do you recommend anything else as a side accomp / dip for an entree?

I just logged in to tell Sazerac: "wow!". Great post! Beautifully done. What a lot of work.

This Forum is better than any cooking or food magazine and with posts like this one the bar just keeps getting raised all the time. Thank you!

--Joy

Joy, seebee, thanks for the comments; I'm glad it turned out to your liking, seebee.
As far as modifications go, that's what (Indian) home cooking is about - the addition of curry leaves in the OP was a modification based on A2Fay and my experience with Kerala cuisine.

Some comments vis-à-vis the modifications you mention -

I tend to use less turmeric in general - sort of a backlash I suppose. I find a lot of dishes overly generous with turmeric - I think this may be because of a contemporary shift to turmeric powder from fresh ground turmeric (paste).

This recipe as detailed above is somewhat mild in piquancy – if you look back – I pictured two chilies (as called for in the ‘original’ recipe) then decided that I needed more (I listed four in the ingredients). These chilies are fairly hot, but as you noted, the coconut milk cools it down a fair bit.
In Indian cooking, I rarely use more than a couple of types of dried red chiles, unlike when I cook Mexican, Tex-Mex or say BBQ sauces, mainly because the additional flavors of the dried (usually toasted and reconstituted/soaked) chiles I feel clashes (for want of a better word) to some extent with the flavors (and I'm still learning the vocabulary of chilis and their flavors). To layer heat in Indian cooking I use fresh green chilis minced or pasted and include this in the frying step, along with a red chile powder of appropriate potency (I have a couple of powders of different potency as well as a couple of whole dry red peppers (Indian) depending on the dish); with fresh green chili added to finish the dish and if the dish also contains black pepper – as this does – there’s good temporal heat distribution. For a dish like this, I'd increase the amount of red chili (powder) and also ramp-up much more the amount of black peppercorns which should be quite dominant.

The other distinct flavor is from curry leaves. The curry leaves we use are fresh – as in just plucked. This has a much, sparkier though touch milder taste than pre-plucked ones; for a deeper curry leaf taste in longer cooked dishes we sometimes prefer the pre-plucked (and freezer stored) leaves. These aren’t ‘dry’ but are different from just-plucked leaves. I’m really hoping for the weather to change so we can take our potted curry plants outside.

As far as dips and condiments go, with S. Indian and some N. Indian as well, dishes I’d eat with a spoonful of (thick) yogurt – the Fage brand yogurt has a particularly suitable tang and consistency (with this dish itself, which has coconut milk yogurt wouldn't be suitable). Otherwise, in general, we have various ‘pickles’ on hand - some commercial, many homemade (though not by us), some S. Indian, some northern – mango (various kinds - baby whole, cut, hot-sweet (Gujarti chuundo), paste-type (thokku ), gongurra (S. Indian – a leafy plant), turmeric (which I picked up and don’t care for but A2Fay likes), lime, fish (mackerel), shrimp, beef. These we eat as fancy strikes (which does depend but only to some extent on what we are eating). I mean this in a total no rules way – as we are not fastidious (at least in the informal settings of a daily meal) about what we eat with what (hope this doesn't seem contradictory). Recently, in Pgh, we found a nice Korean store with a selection of good panchan (from 5000 Year foods Inc, Chicago no less) and their pickled bell-flower root panchan is a great match with Indian food…
A Bengali condiment I adore is kasundi – a fairly potent mustard ‘sauce’ with a bit of mango (that’s a whole ’nother story for another day).