Chellammal Grandma's Chicken Curry

 I love family history - especially when it relates to food! My husband's dad is from a place called Agasteeswaram near Nagercoil. This recipe belongs to his mother.  What is beautiful about this recipe is the simplicity, use of easily available ingredients and the effortlessness of making this dish. Every time he spoke about his mother's special chicken recipe, my father in law's eyes would light up and he would promise to make it for me some day. He discussed the recipe with me, but never ended up cooking it for me. So based on what he told me, I have tried to recreate Chellammal grandma's chicken recipe. 

I believe when Chellammal grandma made this dish, it was almost pure white like the coconut milk she used. The reason for the colour in my dish is that I browned the chicken pieces before adding the coconut milk.

I can imagine grandma cooking this dish, putting it all together in an earthen pot, and after making sure the coals were burning red hot in her wood fired stove, she would go off to do other chores.

When she came back in an hour or so, the food would be ready to serve to the hungry family. 

Ingredients:

500 grams chicken, I used thigh pieces but I think a full, organic chicken is what I would use next time

100 ml coconut milk

1 tablespoon black pepper, freshly ground

1 onion, sliced

1 small piece of cinnamon

2 cloves

2 cardamoms

2 tablespoons oil

salt to taste

1 sprig curry leaves

Method:

Heat oil in a wok, add the dry spices. When they release their fragrance, add the onions and sauté for a few minutes till they start to go brown.  Place the chicken pieces skin down on the onions and wait till they brown.  Turn the pieces over and allow them to brown on the other side as well.

While the meat is browning, take 50 ml of the coconut milk and set aside.  To the remaining 50 ml, add 50 ml of water and dilute it.

Once the meat is browned, add the diluted coconut milk to it. Add a teaspoon of black pepper.  Cover the lid, reduce the fire to a minimum and go away for about 15 minutes.

Check on the meat after 15 minutes, add another teaspoon of pepper and continue to cook till the sauce  reduces and the meat is cooked. Keep adding the pepper a little at a time - if you are not sure of how hot you would like the chicken to be.  You can add up to 1 tablespoon, and from what I hear, grandma used to add it all and forget about it.

When the meat is cooked, add the reserved coconut milk and curry leaves. Let the sauce boil just once. Turn off the flame and serve hot with rice or chappaties.

The sauce is thick and full of flavour.  It is like an emulsion - of the fats and the coconut milk.

Traditionally, coconut milk is prepared by squeezing the milk out of freshly scraped coconut that is ground together with water.  This process is done three times and the milk that you get is thinner than what you get in a commercial can of coconut milk.

This is the reason I thinned out the coconut milk to cook the chicken.  Also, I believe grandma never used the cinnamon, cardamom or cloves.  I have added them in - I am sure she will forgive me for that! 

This picture is from 1915 - taken right after Chellammal grandma's wedding. Her full name is Gnana Chellammal. Doesn't she look gorgeous in her wedding outfit, doesn't look a day older than 18!