Try 30 minutes Kerala Style Chicken Stew, a traditional curry from Kerala prepared with chicken, veggies, spices and coconut milk. It is best served with rice, hoppers or appam. Here is how to make it.
Here are a few more recipes from Kerala that you will absolutely love – Kerala Prawn Curry, Kerala Style Mango Pickle, Kerala Parotta, Kerala Egg Curry, Moru Curry, Kerala Fish Curry, Ulli Theeyal and Kerala Style Fish Moilee.
About This Recipe
Kerala Style Chicken Stew, traditionally known as Nadan Kozhi Ishtu is a popular chicken curry from the southern part of India. It is unique, mildly spiced and can be prepared in just 30 minutes.
Chicken pieces are cooked in a mild coconut milk curry along with veggies and a few spices. It is best served for weekday meals with steamed rice, puttu, hopper or appam.
This recipe shows the pan method, but you can even pressure cook this curry to fasten up the process.
Ingredients
Chicken – Use bone in chicken pieces, as it soaks up the flavours nicely. You can even go for boneless chicken pieces for this curry.
Chicken can be substituted with mutton, fish or prawns.
Vegetables – I have added veggies such as potato and carrot, but you can add in more such as beans, green peas, cauliflower etc.
Coconut milk – Coconut milk is the ingredient that forms the base of this curry. Thick and thin coconut milk, both are used.
You can either prepare coconut milk at home or use a sore bought one.
Cashew nut paste – Adds more creaminess and richness in the curry.
Whole spices – As this curry has no spice powders, it is mildly spiced with whole spices like cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns and bay leaf.
Oil – Use only coconut oil for the traditional authentic taste.
Others – Onion, ginger, garlic, green chillies, curry leaves and salt are few other ingredients for this curry.
Tempering – Tempering is optional, but adds so much taste so its highly recommended. For tempering, you will need coconut oil, pearl onions and curry leaves.
Serving Suggestions
This Ishtu is traditionally served with steamed rice, appam or hoppers. You can also serve it with Kerala parotta, tawa paratha or lachha paratha.
Storing Suggestions
Kerala Style Chicken Stew will last for a day or two, as it has coconut milk as one of its main ingredients. It is also not freezer friendly, as the coconut milk will split while thawing.
Step by Step Recipe
Heat coconut oil in a pan.
Once the oil is hot, add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorn and bay leaf. Fry for a few seconds.
Add onion, ginger, and garlic and fry until they turn translucent.
Add green chilli and curry leaves and fry for a minute.
Now add chicken, thin coconut milk and salt.
Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Add potato and carrot and cook until chicken and vegetables are done.
Add cashew nut paste and thick coconut milk and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
For tempering, heat coconut oil in a pan.
Once the oil is hot, add onion and curry leaves and fry until golden brown.
Pour the tempering over the chicken.
Kerala Style Chicken Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon Coconut oil
- 2 Green cardamom
- 2-3 Clove
- 1 inch Cinnamon
- 3-4 Black peppercorn
- 1 Bay leaf
- 2 cups Onion (Thinly sliced)
- 1 teaspoon Ginger (Finely chopped)
- 1 teaspoon Garlic (Finely chopped)
- 2 Green chilli (Slit into half)
- 10-12 Curry leaves
- 750 g Chicken
- 1 cup Thin coconut milk
- Salt to taste
- ¼ cup Potato (Peeled and cubed)
- ¼ cup Carrot (Peeled and cubed)
- 2 tablespoon Cashew nut paste – 2 tbsp
- 1 cup Thick Coconut milk – 1 cup
For tempering
- 1 tablespoon Coconut oil
- 4-5 Small pearl onions (Sliced)
- 10-12 Curry leaves
Instructions
- Heat coconut oil in a pan.
- Once the oil is hot, add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorn and bay leaf.
- Fry for a few seconds.
- Add onion, ginger and garlic and fry until they turn translucent.
- Add green chilli and curry leaves and fry for a minute.
- Now add chicken, thin coconut milk and salt.
- Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes.
- Add potato and carrot and cook until chicken and vegetables are done.
- Add cashew nut paste and thick coconut milk and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- For tempering, heat coconut oil in a pan.
- Once the oil is hot, add onion and curry leaves and fry until golden brown.
- Pour the tempering over the chicken.
- Serve hot with Appam.
