This dish is an easy and super tasty chicken roast that would be perfect for any occasion. A no fuss recipe and loaded with flavor. Chicken marinated in spices and cooked in a thick coconut gravy, heavenly is all I can say! This succulent chicken dish is so deliciously tantalizing. And when teamed up with simple jeera rice, pulav or phulkas, it is simply irresistible
Wash and clean the chicken pieces and make deep gashes in them
Marinate the cleaned chicken with ingredients listed under 'Ingredients for Marination' and keep in the refrigerator for half an hour (overnight marination provides best results)
Shallow fry the marinated chicken pieces till it becomes golden brown on either side the chicken is half cooked (refer notes). Remove the chicken pieces from the pan
To the same pan, add the sliced onions a pinch of salt
Cook till onions turn golden brown
Add the ginger garlic paste and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes or till raw smell disappears
Throw in the coriander, red chili, garam masala fennel powders and fry for a few minutes till masala is cooked through
Add sliced tomatoes curry leaves along with enough salt and mix well
When the tomatoes become soft and oil appears (add one or two splashes of water to get a nice paste like consistency), add the fried chicken pieces and give a good stir till the masala coats the chicken well
Now add the thick coconut milk and mix well
Cover and cook till the gravy is very thick (15 to 20 minutes approximately) The chicken pieces should be succulent coated well with the masala
This curry has a semi-thick gravy. Serve hot with plain rice/pulav/roti/appam
Notes
You can use any refined oil for this dish but honestly coconut oil enhances the flavor and lifts the dish to a whole new level. So it’s totally your call!
If you want to avoid excess oil usage, you can skip shallow frying the chicken.
Directly proceed to cooking the marinated chicken pieces in a non-stick pan with very little oil and then adding this into the prepared tomato and onion masala with coconut milk.