Spicy Chettinad Chicken Curry Recipe & "Chettinadu" -The Land of Heritage and Devotion

Spicy Chettinad Chicken Curry Recipe 

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

For Marinate

·         Chicken - 1/2 kg

·         Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

·         Lemon juice - half a lemon

For Seasoning

·         Sesame Oil / Gingelly Oil / Nallennnai - 1 to 2 tblspn

·         Bay Leaf / Biryani Leaf - 1

·         Small Onions / Shallots - 13 to 15 sliced thinly

·         Tomato - 1 chopped roughly

·         Ginger paste - 1 tblspn (grated or mashed)

·         Garlic Paste - 1 tblspn (grated or mashed)

·         Sea Salt / Kal uppu - to taste

·         Curry leaves - 3 springs

·         Coriander leaves / Cilantro - for garnishing

Spices For Chettinad Masala

·         Coconut - 1/4 cup grated

·         Coriander Seeds - 2 to 3 tsp

·         Dry Red Chilli - 5

·         Black Pepper / Milagu - 1 to 1 1/2 tsp

·         Cumin Seeds / Seeragam - 1 tsp

·         Fennel Seeds / Sombu - 1 tsp

·         Elachi / Cardamom / Elakkai - 2

·         Black Stone Flower / Kal Paasi - 2

·         Star Anise / NatchathiraPoo - 1

·         Cloves / Kirambu - 2

·         Jaathi Pathri - 1

·         Cinnamon / Pattai - 2 piece

Instructions

1.      Take chicken in a bowl and wash well in water with little amount of turmeric to remove chicken smell from it. Then, marinate chicken with 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and half a lemon juice for 30 minutes.

2.    For making chettinad masala, dry roast coriander seeds,pepper,star anise,cardamom,cinnamon,fennel seeds, cumin seeds,black stone flower, cloves and jaathipathri, in a low flame. Once it gets nicely roasted, add red chilli and roast it for few seconds until it turns crispy. Make sure it should not get burn.

3.    Add grated coconut and mix well for few seconds.

4.    After roasted everything, add this to the blender or mixie jar and grind it as fine powder.

5.     Now, heat a kadai with 1 or 2 tblspn of sesame/gingelly oil. Add a bay leaf , sliced small onions, curry leaves with little salt to speed up the onion cooking time and saute till it turns light golden color.

6.    Add Ginger,garlic paste and saute it until the raw smell goes off.

7.     Add chopped tomato and cook for 2 minutes. Then, add marinated chicken and mix well.

8.    Let it cook for 15 minutes. Do not need to add water. Chicken will cook on its own water. Then, add powdered spices.Mix well.

9.    If you want, add some water now and boil it for 2 to 3 minutes. Add required salt and cover the kadai with a lid.Keep the flame in low for another 20 minutes.

10.                Garnish with coriander leaves.

11.  Serve Chettinad chicken curry hot with Rice, chappathi, Idli/Dosa, Parotta and even Naan's.

Chettinadu the Land of Heritage and Devotion .

 The origin of the Nagaraththar or the successful Trading Community of Chettiars, also called as the Nattukottai Chettiars begins in the 13th century when the Nattu Kottai Chettiars migrated from the Kaveripoompattinam presumably after a massive and devastating flood . The new settlement became the Land of Chettiars with 96 villages spreading over 1000 Sq.miles. Currently it has shrunk to 56 villages in Sivagangi and 20 villages in Pudukottai Districts totaling 76 villages. By virtue of their business activities, in the 19th Century, they travelled extensively and settled in the nearby countries of Sri Lanka[Ceylon], Java, Sumatra Islands, Singapore, Myanmar[Burma], Cambodia , Vietnam[Saigon] and Malaysia. They grew wealthy and became a powerful community in India. Abundance of money made the Nagarathar to concentrate in the activities of Religion, Education and Finance. Nagarathar’s were the one who had dedicated the Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of Madura and also the United India Insurance as private banking and Insurance establishments to the country. Large number of this community’s population is settled in West Asia, Australia, Europe and the United States too. Chettinad is known for its unique art and architecture, Nagarathar temples and Aromatic and tasty local cuisine. 

TOURISTS ATTRACTIONS : Chettinad is famous for its tourist attractions -the traditional palaces and mansions that will help one to understand the simple, yet classy life of the wealthy Chettiar community. Some of the interesting tourist attractions in Chettinad are the museums-the Kamban Mani Mandapam and the Kaviarsar Kannadhasan Mani Mandapam, both built in honor of late poet-laureates. The latter has a museum with an amazing collection of artefacts -traditional jewellery, clothing, huge copper vats and grain bins. Visit to Devakottai , where the streets of Devakottai afford one the pleasure of walking through a typical Chettiar lane lined with old mansions, the most famous being Periya Minor's Veedu. The Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Devakottai is famous for the 108 statues of Vinayakar. 

Chettinad Houses : The Chettinad region is most popular and adored for its 18th century mansions, unique and ornamented palatial houses , with wide courtyards and spacious rooms embellished with marble and teak. Beautiful front court yard with wide and lengthy corridors on all four sides lined with ornamental pillars and antiques are a part of the Chettinad Houses. These palatial houses are found in the villages of Kaanadukathan, Aathangudi, Kandanur, Kad-iyapatti. Many of these mansions were built using a type of limestone known as karai hence they are also called as Karai[limestone] veedu. Local legend narrates that the mansion walls were polished with a paste made out of egg whites to give them a smooth and shiny texture.

Kaanadukathan, is one of the best destinations to see the Chettinad Architecture. The streets of this town with houses built on a palatial scale are almost deserted. Each one of these houses are located on a large plot of land that spreads over 1.5 to 10 acres and has many as 1,000-1,500 windows consuming around 1500 tons of timber as wood work. Annamalai Chettiar’s Chettinad Palace built in 1912 [almost 113 years ago], is the best of its kind located in chettinad. Theconstruction material, decorative items, and furnishings from East Asia and Europe ; Marble from Italy; Chandeliers and Teak from Myanmar; Crockery from Indonesia; Crystal and Wall-to-wall Mirrors from Europe find their presence in these palaces.  

Since the maintenance of such Palaces costs lakhs of rupees a year, it is very sad to note that, of late , these antiquity master pieces are disappearing and are being demolished, built as smaller, compact and easily maintainable bungalows or houses.

CHETTINAD CUSINE :: CHETTINAD cuisine is very aromatic, Spicy and Rich in strength. Non Vegetarian food tops their Menu that includes Chicken, Fish, Prawn, Lobster, Crab, and Lamb, but they are cautious enough toavoid Beef and Pork. Varieties of naturally dried Meat and Salted Vegetables that suits their dry climate, normally finds its place in their daily Menu. Their food will find variety of Spices in the form of fresh ground Masalas necessarily wth a boiled egg. They have many Vegetarian Delicacies too in their cuisine. Chettinad Chicken and Lamb is the most favoured dishes from the Chettinad Kitchen. All spicy accompaniment dishes are taken almost along with rice based dishes.Idiyappam, Paniyaram, Vellai Paniyaram, Karupatti Paniyaram, Paal Paniyaram, Kuzhi Paniyaram and Masala Paniyaram, Kozhukattai, Khandarappam, Sweet and Masala Seeyam [sooyan], Kavuni Arisi and Athirasam are some of the long list of Vegetarian delicacies of the Chettinad Region.

Arts and Crafts : The arts of Chettinad occupy a distinct position in South Indian folklore. Wood carving, silver embellishment, woven saris, palm-leaf baskets, gold jewelry, hand made tiles, architectural styles, egg plastering are among their more visible contributions to the wide-ranging repertoire of Indian arts and crafts. Kandaangisarees or Chettinad Sarees, with use of beautiful colour combinations and pattern with bold checks and stripes, are the brand equity of the Chettinad region. Unique Chettinad baskets with unique and intricate patterns made with palm leaves and the patterns are as fine as the embroidery.Chettinad Weddings, normally conducted in their houses, equally emphasize the life style of the community. The week – long wedding celebration of the yester years, have been trimmed to a couple of days to suit the convenience. The hospitality, the jewels for bride and bridegroom, the food varieties are the special attraction of the occasion. The Nagarathars have the custom of tying the kazhuthu [neck] Uru [piece] [kazhuththu uru] commonly called as Mangal Sutra or the Thali, which is made of gold and covered with diamond. The pendant in the Thali /Mangalsutrarepresents the Clan/Family sub sects.

How To Reach Chettinadu  By Air  The nearest Airport Madurai 90 kms from Chettinad connects to different parts of the State. By Rail  Karaikudi is the main railway station, which connects the State Capital Chennai and other major cities in TamilNadu and onwards to other parts of India. By Road  Karaikudi is well connected by the national highways 45 and 210 with Madurai, Trichy, Tanjore and Chennai.