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..