Chicken Sukka

Chicken Sukka is my favourite dish along with Neer Dosa. This is a delicious combination in Mangalorean Cuisine. When we were in Bangalore, we used to have it from the restaurants there. After coming to UK, I started missing this a lot and was hunting for an authentic recipe. One morning I was pleasantly surprised when Shireen posted it at her blog Ruchik Randhap. Her blog has a collection of authentic Mangalore dishes and the pictures make me drool always. Yesterday I made Chicken Sukka and Neer dosa for dinner and it was fantastic. My husband said that it is the most authentic one he ever had. I had followed every bit of her recipe, except for the 2 varieties of chillies she used. I get only one type of dry chilly here which is kind of mildly spicy and this made my curry look brownish. 

Coming to the recipe...The preparation is a little time consuming, but the final dish is worth all the effort.

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 kg cut to medium pieces

Onion - 1, chopped

Salt to taste

For the roasted masala

Poppy seeds / khus-khus - 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon - 1 inch piece

Cloves - 3 or 4

Onion - 1 medium size, finely sliced

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Crushed garlic with skin - 3 cloves

Dry red chillies - 15 to 18 (adjust based on spiciness)

Coriander seeds - 1.5 tbsp

Whole black peppercorns - 10

Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp 

Cumin seeds/jeera - a pinch

Tamarind - marble sized or Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp

For garnishing

Grated coconut - 1 cup 

Garlic with skin - 3 cloves

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp 

For the seasoning/tadka

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Onion - 1 medium size finely sliced

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick

Preparation:

1. Heat a pan and dry roast the poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves, sliced onion, garlic and turmeric powder. I added a little oil as the turmeric was about to get burnt. Saute till the onions turn pale. Add dry red chillies, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, peppercorns and tamarind one by one and saute. Let it cool and then grind to a fine paste.
2. Wash and drain the chicken peices. In a pan, add the chicken, chopped onion, salt and 3/4th portion of the ground masala. Reserve the remaining 1/4th to be added in next step. Cook without adding any water as  this is a kind of dry preparation and chicken cooks in its own juices.
3. In the same pan used for the first roasting, dry roast the coconut, 3 cloves of garlic and cumin on a slow flame for about 2-3 minutes till you get a nice aroma of roasted coconut. No need to wait till coconut turns brown. Let it cool and grind it along with the masala that was reserved previously(the 1/4th portion) to a coarse consistency. When the chicken is almost cooked, add this ground mix and combine well and cook for few more minutes till chicken is done.
4. Heat a tadka/seasoning pan and add ghee followed by onion. Saute till onion turns golder brown, add cinnamon now and pour this seasoning to the cooked chicken. This seasoning gives a great taste to the Sukka.

Serve with Neer Dosa/Rice/Roti.

Thanks again Shireen for this delicious recipe..

Re-post for Healing Food-Berries event

Strawberry Cake

Strawberry Milkshake

Buttermilk Berry Muffins

I am sending these 3 entries to to Healing Foods - Berries hosted by Smitha, an event series started by Siri.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

This morning when Radhika posted these muffins, I wanted to try these very soon. I had already bookmarked   this in Nigella Lawson's website, but due to some reason I couldn't bake it. So Radhika's post came as a reminder and when I checked my pantry, I had all the ingredients at hand. Also, I wanted to try something chocolatey with the Cadbury Bournville cocoa powder I bought from Cadbury World near Birmingham. I guess I haven't mentioned about my trip to the Cadbury factory at Bournville  in any of the posts before. It is a wonderland for all the people who love chocolate. The aroma of freshly made chocolate fills the air and I relished every moment spent in the premises :-) There are demonstrations of how chocolates are made, the packaging and they give some samples too. The World's largest Cadbury Shop is located here where we can find all varieties of chocolate and related products of Cadbury. If you want to visit or know more check this link: Cadbury World

A few pics taken there...

The factory

The chocolate shop

The handcrafted chocolate shoe

Now coming to the recipe...These muffins are soft, moist, with a wonderful banana and chocolate flavour.

Ingredients:

All purpose Flour - 1 cup

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp

Very ripe banana - 2

Egg - 1 large

Oil - 1/2 cup

Dark Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup

The above ingredients yield 8 regular muffins

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 200C and line the muffin tray with paper muffin cases or grease with a little oil.

2. Sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking soda and keep aside.

3. Mash the bananas very well using a blender or mixer. To this add oil followed by eggs and sugar. Mix well after adding each ingredient.

4. Add the flour and cocoa mix to this wet mix and combine well.

5. Scoop into the muffin pan and bake for 15-25 mins till they are baked well.  Insert a toothpick or cocktail stick to check.

This is an excellent muffin for breakfast along with milk. Definitely a hit among kids. My daughter loves anything with chocolate and there is no need to say that she loved it. She could hardly wait till they cooled down.

Linking this with Anyone can cook: Series 32

Moong dal curry with Coconut

This is a traditional kerala style curry which is very mildly spicy. My  husband and little girl loves this curry and it is a comfort food at home. Best served with hot rice and pappadam/appalam.

Ingredients:

1. Split yellow Moong dal -1 cup
    Water - 2 cups

2. Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
    Green chillies - 2 or 3
    Jeera/Cumin seeds - a large pinch
    Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
    Shallot/Sambar onion - 1(optional)
    Garlic - 1 clove
    Salt

3. Oil - 1 tbsp
    Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
    Dry red chillies - 1 or 2
    Shallots/Sambar onion - 2 or 3, sliced fine
    Curry leaves - a few

Note: You may substitute moong dal with toor dal if you like.

Preparation:

1. In a pressure cooker, add the moong dal and water and cook till dal is mushy. After one whistle, lower the flame and cook for 2 more whistles. After the pressure is released, mash the dal well and keep aside.
2. Meanwhile, grind all the ingredients in list 2 to a smooth paste adding enough water. Add this paste to the cooked dal and bring to boil. Add enough salt and water for the gravy.
3. Heat oil in a tadka pan and splutter mustard seeds. Add the dry red chillies, curry leaves and shallots and wait till shallots turn brown. Pour this to the curry and close with the lid so that the flavour infuses well.

This one goes to Anyone can cook: Series 32

Also sending this to The Kerala Kitchen hosted by Divya Kudua  this month