Easy Chicken Broccoli Stir-Fry Recipe with Bell Pepper

Stir-fried chicken with broccoli and bell pepper, one of those easy chicken recipes I cooked during the last few days in Sydney when I was home alone and cooking just for myself. The recipe is inspired by a chicken stir fry I used to buy often at a Chinese food stall that would be so simple but so delicious with steamed rice. If you like broccoli and bell pepper, then you'd love this easy stir-fry of the vegetables with chicken.

I love the combination of broccoli and bell pepper, especially when stir-fried with just chilli flakes and salt. In this recipe, I added some corn flour and soya sauce to get a semi gravy that would go with rice. The recipe can be adapted in so many different ways with whatever vegetables you like. I had some leftover soaked almonds after making badam milk and added that too but some roasted cashew nuts or peanuts can be substituted too (or completely left out).

Our apartment in Sydney was near this lovely organic supermarket called About Life and they'd have GMO-free, organic chicken cut into strips, ready for you to stir-fry or make into chicken fingers. I loved how easy it was to buy a pack and quickly cook up something. Sometimes I marvel at how easy it is to put together a simple stir-fry dish rather than a South Indian lunch which has to have some kuzhambu, curry, maybe another curry, papad, curd, phew. Yes that's comfort food but I felt pretty well comforted by this simple one-pot dish too.

I love cooking with chicken but don't do it often since TH is vegetarian and it's too bothersome cooking something for myself and then separately for him. Doesn't really go with my goal of staying in the kitchen as little as possible. That said, here are some popular chicken recipes in Edible Garden.

Chicken 65
Dry chilli chicken
Kerala chicken curry
Chicken fried rice
Simple chicken curry with coconut milk

Let me know what your favourite chicken recipe is in the comments!

CHICKEN STIR FRY WITH BROCCOLI & BELL PEPPER

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves 2

INGREDIENTS:
100 gm of chicken strips or chicken breast cut into long strips
2 cups of broccoli florets
1 cup of bell pepper, cut into cubes (any colour)
A fistful of almonds, cashew nuts, anything you'd like (optional)
1/2 cup of chopped onions
2 tsp of corn flour (corn starch)
2 tbsp of oil (I used rice bran oil)
For the marinade:
1 tsp of vinegar
2 tsp of soya sauce
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 tsp of corn flour (corn starch)
1/2 tsp of chilli powder (or to taste)
1/2 tsp of black pepper powder

INSTRUCTIONS:

To marinate the chicken strips:

Add the corn starch, pepper powder, chilli powder, some salt, garlic, soya sauce, vinegar, and chicken pieces to a bowl. Add about 1-2 tbsp water to bring everything together, mix well, and set aside while you chop the vegetables and prepare the other ingredients. You don't need to marinate a lot, 10 mins is plenty.

To prepare the stir-fry:

Heat oil in a wok or non stick pan and add the onions. Keeping flame on medium, cook until the onions turn soft. I also added a few pieces of garlic at this stage but this is optional.

Next, add the broccoli florets and bell pepper. Mix well to combine.

Then add the marinated chicken pieces and mix well again. Lower heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently until the chicken is cooked through. The time it takes to cook will depend on how thinly you cut them. I'd recommend keeping the strips about 1/2" thick since that would make sure it cooks fast but if you cut them too small, then on cooking the meat will shrink further and turn the chicken into an almost-minced stage. That won't be fun in a stir-fry, I think.

OK so once the chicken seems cooked through, add the nuts (I added soaked and skinned almonds) if you want to use any and give a quick mix. Also add more salt if, needed, at this stage,

Now the final step. Do this only after ensuring your vegetables and chicken are cooked fully and you have adjust salt, pepper, chilli, etc.

Mix 2 tsp cornflour in 1/4 cup water and add to the above. Keeping flame low, mix throughly and remove from heat. The mixture will look watery but it will thicken quite a bit on cooling. This will give you some delicious gravy when it cools down.

All done! This chicken stir-fry with broccoli and bell pepper can be made into many different versions. For instance, try adding some chopped celery for a change in texture and flavour. Use tomatoes, beans, carrots, anything you'd like, keeping the base the same. The vinegar adds a bit of tang so don't skip it.

The black pepper is an important addition too so highly recommend adding that. Doesn't matter if it's freshly cracked or bought powdered.

You can also add some ginger garlic paste to the onions when they are frying up. Adds a bit more zing but personally I prefer to only flavour this chicken stir-fry with garlic.

Enjoy hot with some steamed white rice!

Chettinad Pepper Chicken Masala - Spicy Pepper Chicken Recipe

I've shared a recipe for dry pepper chicken before but tha'ts before I tried this much better variation recently. I have been out of blogging action for a while thanks to a lot of stuff happening in my life right now (mostly good folks, mostly good) but obviously I am still cooking and eating as much as before, if not more. This gorgeous pepper chicken happened one Sunday night for dinner which explains the otherwise inexplicable lighting situation going on in the first two pictures of the dish.

Bloggers introduce their recipes with a dash of behind-the-scenes, what's going on in their lives, how they came to make this dish, etc. Sometimes we talk about how good it was and how everyone else must go ahead and make it. But anecdotes and stories that explain why others in their lives want repeats of a dish all the time are quite rare so when I saw Deepa talking about this dry pepper chicken masala her husband loves, I knew I had to try it. This is the first time (I think) I used freshly ground spices to such great results and I don't know how I'll ever go back to my lazy self that just adds store-bought coriander powder, etc, to my dishes.

I have adapted the original recipe and increased the amount of spices to suit my tastebuds so if you like your chicken dishes on the dry and greasy side with lots of kick and heat from spices, then drop everything now and go make this. Unless you are vegetarian, in which case, try it with potatoes or mushrooms. Obviously, you can control the greasiness by reducing the amount of oil but I strongly recommend going with the full amount listed below. Trust me on this.

Other chicken recipes that I absolutely love and make often for guests, especially:
Butter Chicken
Chicken Curry in Coconut Milk
Chilli Chicken
Kerala Chicken Curry

CHETTINAD PEPPER CHICKEN RECIPE

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 2-3
Adapted from: One Small Pot and Tasting India by Christine Manfield

INGREDIENTS:

250 gm of boneless chicken pieces, cubed
A fistful of curry leaves
2 tbsp of oil (I used coconut oil)
1 tsp of black mustard seeds
1/4 tsp of fennel seeds, saunf (optional)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp of ginger, grated or finely chopped
1 cup of onions, sliced
1/2 cup of cubed tomato or 1 tsp tomato paste
Spices
1 tsp of cumin seeds
2 tsp of coriander seeds
1-2 dry red chillies (adjust to taste)
1 tsp of whole black pepper (adjust to taste)
3" piece of cinnamon
3 green cardamom pods

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Dry-roast the spices (use the seeds from the cardamom pods) in a skillet until they turn a shade darker and fragrant.

2. Cool and pound coarsely in a pestle or mortar or using a spice/coffee grinder.

3. Heat the oil in a wide pan and turn to low heat. Add the mustard seeds and fennel and then they sizzle and pop, add the ground spices, fry for 10 seconds until fragrant...

... and then add the ginger, garlic, onions, and curry leaves.

4. Saute until the onions are soft and then add the tomatoes or tomato paste. Mix well.

5. Now add the chicken pieces and stir well to coat them with the spices.

6. Add 1 cup of water, bring to boil, lower heat to simmer, and cook covered for about 15 mins or until the chicken pieces are cooked through.

You should uncover and stir in between every 3-4 mins to make sure nothing is burning. After about 15 mins, the gravy should be thick and the spices should be coating the chicken. If this is not the case, cook in the open pan for a few more minutes.

All done! Serve hot as an appetizer, with rice, roti, dosa, chapati, parotta, anything at all. This lip-smacking Chetttinad-style pepper chicken goes with everything.

Notes:
- You can also use chicken pieces with bone, just cut into the size you desire and adjust cooking times accordingly
- I have a high spice and heat tolerance when it comes to meat dishes, so adjust your spice levels to your taste
- If you don't have curry leaves, please don't make this. Ok you can, but it won't taste as nice. Special thanks to Deepa for the fresh curry leaves from her mom's garden.

Easy Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk - Coconut Milk Chicken Curry Recipe

Learn how to make a basic and easy Indian-style chicken curry with coconut milk and spices. This is a relatively mild chicken curry recipe that's fabulous because it goes with everything - rice, chapati, pulao, dosa, appam, puttu, etc.

There are so many variations to a coconut milk chicken curry and this is my own. There's nothing special or majorly different in this recipe than the base of most Indian curries but I do like my chicken curry in a particular way, and this is it. While generally my Indian non-vegetarian recipes are on the spicier side, both heat-wise and spice-wise, I like to keep coconut based curries on the milder side. That tends to brings out the flavour and sweetness of coconut milk which really should be the star in such recipes. I also like to keep tang to a minimum and so add tomatoes for the colour than for any major flavour.

You can adapt this chicken curry with coconut milk recipe in many different ways to suit your palates and I have mentioned some variations below, while I explain the flow of how I make it. If you use canned or packaged coconut milk, this is a very easy dish to put together in under 30 mins. Making your own coconut milk will obviously elevate the flavour of the curry but it's not essential in this dish, in my opinion. Since I like the gravy to be a bit on the thicker side, I used ground poppy seed paste, something that is unavailable in Singapore and so more used and appreciated in Sydney :) TH and I have different choices (he's a vegetarian) and we rarely comment on each other's choices but after making this chicken curry, I told him for the first time that I wish he could taste it.

I have a few more chicken recipes in the site and my favourites are dry chilli chicken, Kerala chicken curry, and butter chicken masala. Try them! You can also check out how to make coconut milk at home.

CHICKEN CURRY WITH COCONUT MILK

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 4
Recipe: My own

INGREDIENTS:
250 gm of cleaned and cubed chicken pieces
1 cup of sliced onions
2 tbsp of oil (I use coconut oil)
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
2 tsp of coriander powder
1/2 tsp of red chilli powder
1" piece of ginger
2 green chillies (adjust to taste)
2 flakes of garlic
A few cubes of ripe tomato
1 tbsp of poppy seeds, soaked for 15 mins (see notes)
2 cups of thin coconut milk (see notes)
1 cup of thick coconut milk
A small bunch of chopped coriander leaves, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat oil in a wide pan and add the sliced onions. Fry until golden brown (they need to brown a bit more than in the picture below).

2. Grind the green chillies, garlic, and ginger together coarsely.

3. Add the spice powders - chilli, coriander, cumin, and turmeric - to the fried onions. Saute for 20 seconds.

4. Now add the ground chilli paste and tomatoes to the above. Fry again for a minute, the mixture will turn fragrant.

5. Add the cleaned chicken pieces to this,

along with the thin coconut milk + 1 more cup of water. Add salt. Bring this to boil.

6. Meanwhile, grind the soaked poppy seeds in 2-3 tbsp water into a smooth paste. I use the same grinder as I used for chilli paste.

Add poppy seed paste to the curry and when it comes to boil, lower heat and cook closed for 15-20 mins or until the chicken pieces are cooked. The gravy will also thicken a bit.

7. On low heat, add the thick coconut milk and mix well.

8. Do not boil for too long after the thick coconut milk is added. If you feel the gravy is too watery, boil the curry in an open pan before adding the thick coconut milk. Once it's heated through and just begins to boil, add the chopped coriander leaves, adjust salt, and remove from flame.

Serve hot!

Variations and Notes:

1. You can add more tomatoes if you want or omit it completely
2. If you want a 'whiter' curry, omit the chilli powder and increase amount of green chillies, to taste
3. I use poppy seeds as a gravy thickener. Other options are to use cashew nut paste (soaked cashew nuts ground with water) or more thick coconut milk or coconut cream
4. You can use curry leaves as garnish instead of coriander leaves but avoid using both
5. You can try this same recipe with chicken pieces with bone. It's hard for me to find that kind cleaned and prepared so I always opt for chicken breast. Adjust cooking time according to size of chicken pieces
6. You can make a vegetarian version of this curry by substituting chicken with soya chunks, potatoes, or a mixture of both. A mix of vegetables may also turn out well
7. Regarding thin and thick coconut milk - if using canned coconut milk, buy full cream variety (not the low fat or whatever) and for the 2 cups thin milk, dilute with 1:1 water. When you need to add the thick coconut milk, add it as is. Check this post if making coconut milk at home

For chicken curry with coconut milk recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, etc, please use Google translate button in the sidebar.

Chicken 65 Recipe - How to Make Chicken 65 at Home

I always associate Chicken 65 with Madurai although I have only been to Madurai once and I didn't eat Chicken 65 during that trip. Weird, I know, but not too much because Chicken 65 is a very popular and spicy street food in Madurai. Anyway, I am sure none of you are new to this deliciously spicy fried chicken dish from South India that serves as an appetizer as well as it does a main dish. Now, the Chicken 65 in roadside stalls and restaurants may look a bit different but that's because they add a large pinch of red food colour and I didn't. But I can assure you that these bite-sized pieces of chicken are crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and adequately spiced up.

I once made Chicken 65 with Achi Chicken 65 masala and it turned out really good. I wanted to make it from scratch so once that 50gm packet ran out, I didn't buy it any more in case it tempts me to stick to store-bought masala packets forever! I am a bit neurotic like that I guess, and while I have no issues buying masala powders at the store (I have never made garam masala at home), there's some special joy in making your own food, from scratch.

A different angle brings out different colours. YUM!

This Chicken 65 will serve as a great starter for a South Indian meal menu but I do love a good dry chilli chicken or chicken majestic too. Check out all Chicken Recipes on Edible here for more Indian chicken recipes.

SOUTH INDIAN CHICKEN 65 RECIPE

Preparation time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
300 gm of chicken breast, cleaned and cut into small cubes (boneless)
1/4 cup of thick plain yogurt (or 1/2 cup buttermilk)
1/2 tsp of Kashmiri chilli powder (adjust to taste)
1/2 tsp of cumin powder
1/4 tsp of black pepper powder
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp of coriander powder
2 tsp of ginger garlic paste
2 tsp of rice flour or corn flour (corn starch)
A fistful of curry leaves
2-3 cups of oil, for frying
1 tsp of vinegar (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix the yogurt with all the spices, corn flour, ginger-garlic paste, and some salt. Add the vinegar only if your yogurt is not sour. Add the chicken pieces to this and mix well.

Refrigerate this mixture for about 2 hours to let the marinade work its magic on the chicken pieces. You can even leave it overnight if you want to prep it ahead.

2. When you are ready to fry, heat the oil in a kadai or pan. The amount of oil should be enough to almost cover the pieces so the quantity required will depend on your pan.

Gently add the marinated chicken pieces one by one without overlapping and fry on a low flame until golden brown, turning every once in a while. The outside should turn a dark golden brown otherwise the meat won't be cooked through.

3. The chicken pieces will shrink a bit on frying as the moisture leaves the meat. The sizzling of the oil will also die down almost completely. Do a quick taste test and remove from the oil. Drain on paper towels as you fry the next batch. Add the curry leaves when you are frying up the last batch and let it turn crisp.

4. Drain and add to the fried pieces of chicken. Give everything a quick stir and serve hot.

Hot and spicy Chicken 65 is ready! Serve with lemon wedges an freshly sliced red onions.

Notes:

1. It's important to fry the chicken in low heat otherwise the outside will start to begin while the inside remains raw.
2. If you want the colour you see in restaurants, you have to add red food colour
3. If you don't have cornflour, use rice flour to give the outside a bit of crispness
4. My version was not very spicy so adjust the heat  level to your preference. Using Kashmiri chilli powder will give your chicken a more brighter colour than regular chilli powder, without the use of food colours
5. If the marinade is too thick, you can add some water
6. If your yogurt is not sour and you don't have vinegar or don't want to use it, add a few drops of lemon juice to the marinade

For Chicken 65 recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, etc, please use the Google Translate button in the sidebar.

Kerala Chicken Curry Recipe - Nadan Kozhi Curry Recipe (No Coconut Milk)

This Kerala-style chicken curry is special. I love any gravy with a roasted coconut and spices and this chicken curry uses just that (but no coconut milk). There are tons of different variations to how chicken curry is prepared in Kerala but this is type of chicken masala is probably the most common and loved by all. The gravy is spicy and intense and goes great with milder mains like appam, idiyappam, chapati, dosa, parotta, rice, and pathiri. I also love this chicken curry with a simple vegetable pulao.

This chicken curry was prepared lovingly by our very good family friend Deepa Chechy. Her husband, Rajesh anna, wanted his wife's famous chicken curry to appear on Edible Garden so she made it and brought it over exactly as you see it in the picture above, in the same iron cheenachatti used to make it in. I didn't change a thing in the picture, not even the placement of the curry leaves. The chicken curry was steaming hot as I took pictures. So, huge thanks to Deepa chechy and Rajesh anna for this extra special dish :)

Note: Store-bought chicken masala (or meat masala) has been used in this recipe and it really makes the job simpler and tasty. You can make chicken masala at home too and I have left a note on how you can do that but if you get Eastern Chicken Masala or Meat Masala where you live, use it.

Other Kerala chicken recipes on Edible Garden - chicken biryani, pepper chicken, Kerala chicken roast, chicken thoran.

KERALA (NADAN) CHICKEN CURRY RECIPE

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:
500gm of chicken pieces, with bone
1.5 cups of sliced onions
1 cup of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp of minced ginger
1 tbsp of minced garlic
3/4 tsp of chilli powder (adjust to taste)
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
2 tsp of Eastern meat or chicken masala*, heaped
1 cup of grated coconut
2 tbsp of coconut pieces
2 cloves
1" piece of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of fennel seeds (perumjeerakam)
A fistful of curry leaves
4 tbsp of coconut oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat oil in large wok or pan and saute the onions, ginger, and garlic together. Using an iron wok will give the curry a deeper colour as you see in the pics above.

2. Meanwhile, dry roast the coconut until golden brown. Switch off heat and add the whole spices - fennel, cloves, cinnamon - and mix together so they get some heat from the coconut. Cool and grind to a smooth paste with water. Set aside.

3. Once the onions turn a dark brown, add the meat masala, turmeric, and chilli powder and fry for a minute. Then add the chopped tomatoes and saute for another minute.

4. Add the coconut paste, coconut pieces, and washed chicken pieces to the above mixture, top up with 1 cup water and cook covered on low flame for about 20 mins or the chicken pieces are cooked soft. If the gravy is too thick, you can add more water and bring to boil.

5. Add salt and curry leaves on top. Mix again.

* If you want to make your own meat masala powder, I have noted the main ingredients in Eastern meat masala here. Dry roast the following and powder - 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, a few fenugreek seeds, 1 bay leaf, 2 cloves, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 tsp whole black pepper, small piece of cinnamon, nutmeg powder, curry leaves.

Serve chicken curry hot with Kerala appam, chapatis, or rice.

Chicken Majestic - Andhra Style Indian Chicken Starter Recipe

I first tasted and even heard about Chicken Majestic at a friend's place where she served it as a starter. It tasted amazing and the highlight was how tender the chicken pieces were. Chicken Majestic is apparently a very popular starter with chicken particularly well known in Andhra. Although I lived in Hyderabad for a couple of years, I had never come across this particular dish, what a shame. While Chilli Chicken will always remain a personal favourite chicken starter, chicken majestic is a great variation and a welcome change from the usual dishes like chilli chicken or South Indian chicken 65.

There's a secret to why the chicken pieces are super tender - it's because they are marinated in buttermilk for a few hours. The recipe is also a nice blend of Indo-Chinese and Indian with Chinese sauces and Indian spices and curry leaves. You can adjust the the spice levels to your preference and while the preparation time may seem quite long, it's a great make-ahead recipe which makes an amazing chicken starter for your guests when you are entertaining.

CHICKEN MAJESTIC RECIPE

Preparation time: 5 hours
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4-6
Recipe adapted from: Vahchef

Ingredients:
200 gm of chicken breast, cut into long strips
2 tsp of coriander powder
2 tbsp of corn flour
1/2 tsp of cumin powder
1/4 cup of buttermilk
1 egg
1.5 tsp of ginger garlic paste
3-4 green chillies
1 tsp of soya sauce
A fistful of curry leaves
1 small bunch of mint leaves (I didn't have any)
1 tsp + 1 tbsp of oil
3 tbsp of plain yogurt / curd
2 tsp of minced garlic
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

How to Make Chicken Majestic:

1. Marinate the chicken pieces in buttermilk and salt for 4 hours. Leave it in the refrigerator while you marinate.

2. To the same bowl, add the egg, corn flour, ginger garlic paste, 1 tsp oil and leave it to marinate for another hour.

3. When ready to cook, heat the 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add the chicken pieces. Saute until the pieces brown nicely and get fried. The original recipe calls for deep frying but I found saut�ing is quite effective too since the chicken is very tender after marinating.

4. After the chicken is browned and fried, drain and set aside.

5. In the same pan, add the minced garlic and green chillies. Saute until lightly browned and add the curry leaves and mint leaves, if using.

6. When the curry leaves are wilted, add all the masala powders - chilli powder, coriander, jeera, and turmeric.

7. Saute for 5 seconds without burning and add the plain curd. Stir around quickly and add soya sauce and the fried chicken pieces. Mix well until the ingredients are well coated.

8. Keep sauteing until the chicken is cooked fully and the masala turns a lovely brown.

Serve Chicken Majestic as a starter or with rice and gravy. Tastes great either ways.

Chettinad Chicken Masala Recipe (Dry) - Easy Indian Chicken Recipes

I have always been partial towards the extra spicy and curry-leaf-rich Chettinad cuisine ever since I can remember and Anjappar is one of my favourite restaurants in SIngapore to get spicy Chettinad food. Their Chicken Masala is particularly good - bite-sized pieces of chicken cooked in a rich spicy gravy and reduced to a consistency where the gravy is just about coating the chicken pieces. It goes great with rice and roti alike and is absolutely delicious. While I love the Kerala-style Roasted Chicken Recipe too, this one is easier and almost as good.

Chettinad Chicken Masala and Poricha Kuzhambu

Many months back, I tried to replicate that taste at home and came close with one attempt. So here's me sharing the recipe all you chicken lovers. Check out more Indian Chicken Recipes here.

CHETTINAD CHICKEN MASALA RECIPE

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken thighs (with bone)
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 ripe tomato, cubed
• 2 tbsp of oil
• 1/2 tsp of roasted jeera, powdered
• 1 tsp of coriander powder
• 1 tsp of red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
• 1 tsp of black pepper + fennel seeds powdered together
• 1 tsp of chicken masala (or add more coriander powder)
• 1 tsp of garam masala powder
• 1 tsp of grated ginger
• 1 tsp of minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
• 1 fistful of fresh curry leaves

How to Make Chettinad Chicken Masala:

1. Heat oil and add the onions and curry leaves. Saute until the onions turn golden brown.

2. Next, add all the spices - turmeric + cumin + coriander + chicken masala + pepper + fennel + chilli powder and saute for 30 seconds until frangrant.

3. Add the ginger and garlic and saute for 5 seconds before adding the cubed tomato. Cook until the tomatoes turn mushy and juicy.

4. Meanwhile, wash the chicken pieces and make some slits on the meaty portion. Add this to the cooking masala and toss to coat well.

5. Add 1 cup water and some salt and cook covered for 15-20 mins until the chicken is cooked and soft. Open the lid and cook further until the gravy turns thick and the masala coats the chicken. If you want more gravy, you can add more water but I like it on the thicker side.

6. When the chicken pieces are ready, sprinkle garam masala on top, mix, and remove from fire.

Serve hot with rice - it's delicious!

Notes:

1. The curry leaves are an important ingredient. You can add coriander leaves but that would change the flavour so I don't add them usually to Chicken Chettinad
2. You can also use cubed boneless chicken, just adjust cooking time accordingly
3. The tomatoes are optional, I just like the sourness it lends to the masala
4. You can temper the hot oil with mustard seeds. I sometimes add them and sometimes not
5. Update: the chicken masala I have had at Anjappar titled Chicken Chettinad didn't have coconut. There's a version with coconut but it's called something else (Anjappar special something). I haven't tried that version so bear with me. You can definitely add some roasted and ground coconut to this masala if you wish, and avoid the tomatoes. 
6. You can also substitute the garam masala with freshly ground spices - a mix of cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and bay leaf, dry roasted until fragrant

How to Make Chicken Biryani - Layered Chicken Biryani Recipe

Amma makes amazing chicken biryani. Her recipe has evolved and changed over years and now she has two versions, one is the more homely one-pot chicken biryani and the other is a layered chicken biryani, the recipe of which she got from a caterer in our local club and adapted over the years to suit our tastebuds. She often claims that biryani is the easiest thing to make because she doesn't have to make rice and then a kuzhambu or pulusu and then two side dishes, etc etc. Even a simple vegetable pulao needs some sort of a side dish but a biryani doesn't need much else except a simple onion raita and papad on the side. Also, everyone loves a GOOD chicken biryani!

Well, maybe not everyone, because we do have some vegetarians in the family. Which is another reason why she developed this layered chicken biryani recipe. You can cook the biryani rice separately and the chicken gravy separately, to be mixed at the time of serving, or like in my case, I do it on my plate directly! She also adds some vegetables to the rice so that it's more wholesome for the vegetarians. So take this recipe as just a base or an idea and adapt it to suit your needs.

These pictures are almost 2 years old and I had been meaning to take step by step pictures but amma makes this over 2 days sometimes and it's nearly impossible to be around all the time when she's doing a small step here or there. I've tried to make up for the lack of step by step pictures through the detailed instructions.

As Amma does, some work for the biryani can be done in advance. She usually makes the chicken gravy the day before, makes the rice on the day, and then layers them up before serving. This way, you get to control how much spice you have in your biryani, set aside some for the kids/vegetarians and be in control.

Amma's recipe notes have all quantities in bulk to serve the large family gatherings this is usually made for. I have scaled the recipe down to serve 4 people so any obvious mistakes in quantities are mine. As always, the list of ingredients for a biryani will always be long but the entire cooking process is not hard, just more time-consuming than normal dishes.

AMMA'S CHICKEN BIRYANI RECIPE (LAYERED CHICKEN BIRYANI)

Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 2 hours
Serves 4
Recipe source: Amma

Ingredients:

For the Rice:

• 2 cups of basmati rice
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1 tsp of crushed ginger
• 1 tsp of crushed garlic
• 4 cardamom pods
• 4 cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• A small piace of cinnamon
• 3 star anise
• 1 tsp of cumin / jeera
• 1/2 cup of carrots, cut into small cubes (optional)
• 10 cashew nuts
• 10 raisins

For the Chicken Gravy:

• 1 kg of chicken pieces, with bones
• 3 large onions, sliced
• 1 tsp of minced ginger
• 1 tsp of minced garlic
• 2 tsp of coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp of powdered fennel seeds
• 2 tsp of chicken masala
• 1/2 tsp of garam masala (optional)
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
• 2 tomatoes
• A small bunch of coriander leaves (cilantro)
• A fistful of mint leaves
• 1/2 tsp of sugar
• 5-6 green chillies
• 3 tbsp of ghee or oil
• 1 tsp of pepper powder

How to Make Chicken Biryani:

For the Rice:

Soak the rice for 30 mins. Cook the rice following whichever method you prefer. We usually cook rice for biryani in an open pan but you can use the rice cooker or pressure cooker too. Just make sure the rice doesn't get overcooked. The grains need to remain separate.

Meanwhile, heat the ghee or oil in a wide pan and add the sliced onions along with the whole spices (cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf, cardamom, star anise). Fry the onions stirring frequently.

Grind or crush the garlic and ginger together. Add this to the frying onions and fry until the onions turn a dark golden brown. Drain and set aside. (If using carrots, add along with the ginger, etc and cook together).

In the same pan, fry the cashew nuts and raisins until golden. Drain and set aside with the fried onions.

Once the rice is done, mix it with the above onion mixture, add the fried raisins and cashew nuts on top and set aside.

For the Chicken Gravy

Grind or crush ginger + garlic + green chillies

Heat the ghee or oil and add onions. Fry until golden brown and add the ginger-garlic-chillies paste. Fry for another minute and then add the spice powders chicken masala + coriander powder + fennel powder + pepper + turmeric. Saute for a minute.

Then add the chopped tomatoes and cook until they turn soft. At this stage, the mixture will turn mushy and gravy-ish.

Add the washed and cleaned chicken pieces + salt + sugar + 1 cup water and mix well. Bring to boil and cook closed until the chicken is completely cooked. The meat will let out water so don't add too much. Cook on a low flame until done. Then, garnish with garam masala, coriander leaves, mint leaves and more pepper powder. Mix well and set aside.

The chicken gravy should be a bit watery as you see below. If not, add more water and cook further for a bit longer.

Layering the Chicken Biryani

About an hour before serving, take a large serving dish and add a layer of rice. Top off with some chicken and gravy. Add more rice. Repeat this 2 more times. Keep the dish closed and at the time of serving, gently mix and transfer to plates.

Serve chicken biryani with tomato cucumber raita or onion raita and papad.

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