Karivepela Chicken - Curry Leaf Chicken

 My neighbour in Melbourne has a bushy curry leaf tree. At the start of Spring, he gives the tree a good pruning and the tree flourishes. The other day there was a knock at the door - it was my neighbour's son with a bag of fresh curry leaves from the tree.  I am so lucky to have such a good neighbour!

It is hard to preserve curry leaves - so I had to quickly look up recipes that used a lot of curry leaves.

I am trying this recipe for the first time - it is fragrant due to the amount of curry leaves in it.  The taste is a little pungent - but delicious, nevertheless, and the sauce is rich and thick. 

If I get a lot of curry leaves, I will make this dish again! A bit of trivia about curry leaves - they have vitamin A, vitamin C, phosphorous, calcium and iron and they are supposed to be good for regulating blood sugar levels.

Ingredients:

1 kilo chicken ( I used skinless drumsticks)

1 heaped tablespoon coriander seeds

1 heaped tablespoon cashew nuts

35 grams of curry leaves

1 handful of coriander leaves, chopped - reserve a few leaves for garnish

4-5 green chillies

1/4 cup of coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

2 large red onions, chopped

1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste

2 tablespoons oil

1 - 11/2 cups water

Method:

Heat a tablespoon of oil and add curry leaves, coriander seeds, cashew nuts, green chillies and coriander leaves and saute.  Take it off the flame when the coriander seeds and cashew nuts turn golden brown.

Grind to a fine paste.  Set aside.

In the same saucepan, heat another tablespoon of oil, add onions.  Saute well and when the onions start to caramalise, add the chicken, turmeric, ginger garlic paste, coriander powder and red chilli powder.  Keep sauteing and mix well.

Add the coconut milk and salt to taste and let the chicken cook on low flame.

When chicken is half cooked, add the curry leaf paste, 1 to 1 1/'2 cups water and cook on low flame till done.

Garnish with a few coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or chappaties.