Chicken Kuzhambu Recipe – Spicy Chicken Curry Gravy Recipe

Chicken is my most favourite non vegetarian meal. I like chicken in any form (cooked, ahem!).

BBQ, 65, Lollipop, Gravy, Spicy gravy, sukka fry and many many more dishes can be done with chicken. And trust me all of them are yummy!

Spicy chicken curry gravy or chicken kuzhambu is something that I would add to the above list. It goes well with rice or idly/dosa, and chapatis.

I even enjoy it with some bread in the evening – left over after lunch!

Well, here’s my recipe for chicken kuzhambu. The gravy is spicy and hot, if you like it that way. But you can also make it less hotter. You can customise it the way you want.

Here’s a step by step recipe of the spicy chicken curry gravy. The end product looks like this:

Before jumping into the recipe, I would like to point out that I cooked this dish with country chicken (naatu kozhi). Free range.

We get them from hubby’s home – which is in a village – and they raise chicken in the backyard. Whenever we visit, we get about 4-5 of them, and raise them here at our home. And we use them whenever needed.

We prefer country, free range chicken always because it is extremely healthier than the farmed broilers or other kind of chicken.

We get a chance to minimise our exposure to antibiotics, harmful pesticides and infections that pass on to us from the chicken due to their confined feeding environment.

If the chicken is free range (is free to find its own food, in addition to our feeding) it has much lesser (about 30% lesser) saturated fat than the farmed chicken.

Country chicken is a good source of protein and vitamins. It also has medicinal properties and will comfort you during a cold (in the form of soup!).

Having said all these, you are free to use broiler or other type of farmed chicken in this recipe, and it will still taste good ?

Let’s get straight to the chicken kuzhambu recipe now!

Main ingredients

• Chicken (with bones) – 1/2 kg
• Medium sized big onions – 2, sliced lengthwise
• Pearl onions/small onions – 15
• Big juicy tomato – 1, chopped
• Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp
• Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
• Coriander powder – 3 tbsp
• Chicken Masala – 1.5 tbsp
• Coriander leaves – a few for garnishing
• Water and salt as required

To temper

• Bay leaf – 1 (medium sized)
• Cardamom – 2
• Cinnamon – 1/2 inch piece
• Curry leaves – 2 Sprigs
• Oil – 2 tbsp

To grind

• Grated coconut – a little less than a cup
• Fennel seeds – 1 tbsp
• Pepper corns – 1/2 tbsp
• Split roasted gram (pottukadalai) – 1.5 tbsp
• Cashew nuts – 4

Spicy chicken curry gravy – Chicken kuzhambu – preparation

Wash and clean the chicken and keep it ready.

Grind the items given under “To grind” and keep aside.

In a pressure pan, heat the oil (I used sesame oil, cold pressed – but you can use any cooking oil of your choice –  however, read this post before you start cooking with any cooking oil!).

Add the bay leaf, cinnamon and cardamom and fry for a minute until you get the nice aroma.

Add the onions (both big and small) and fry for a minute and then add the curry leaves.

Now add the chopped tomatoes and fry. Add the ginger garlic paste and mix well.

Add all the masala powders, fry for a minute and then add the chicken. Add salt, and add in about 2 cups of water.

The amount of water varies as per your preference. Some want this as a thick gravy, while others prefer a runny consistency for rice. So adjust water according to your preference.

Mix well, close the pan and cook for 3 whistles.

Once the pressure is down, open the pan and add in the ground mixture. Mix well and reduce the flame. Cook for about 15 minutes until the oil separates.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and enjoy with hot rice!