Kerala Chicken Curry with Cheratta Puttu / Nadan Kozhi Kuttan with Cheratta puttu

I have come up with one of the highly popular and most desirous recipe from Kerala"Puttu" (Malayalam). Usually served for breakfast along with "Chickpea curry". "Puttu" is a dish made by steaming rice flour using cylindrical vessel and so the shape of puttu is cylindrical. It is called "Kuzha Puttu"(Kuzhal = Small Cylindrical pipe). Another way of steaming puttu is by using half coconut shell which is called "Cheratta puttu" (Cheratta = coconut shell). Nowadays  some variation of puttu uses wheat, rava, whole grains etc.. Also you can find readymade flour for making puttu. On the other hand, the accompaniments also varies widely. Most common is chickpea curry, banana and palm sugar. Also goes well with any other curries and non veg curries.



Since puttu is steamed, it is considered very healthy food. To add more healthiness and naturalistic to the dish, I have tried red rice flour and steamed using coconut shell. Instead of Kadala curry, I made Kerala Chicken curry (Nadan Kozhi Kuttan) to go with puttu.

Cheratta puttu

Servings:  2        

Preparation Time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Level: Easy

Ingredients:

1)      Red rice flour                                    200 gm

2)      Salt                                                    as required

3)      Grated coconut                                 4 Tbsp

4)      Warm water                                      1 cup

5)      Halved coconut shell                        2 nos

Method:

Preparation:

1)      Dry roast the rice flour using pan. 2)      Let it cool for 2 mins. 3)      Add salt to the warm water and mix well. 4)      Now add the warm water little by little to the rice flour mixing them well. 5)      Stop adding water when the consistency of the flour becomes somewhat moisture. When you hold the mixture tight in your palm, it should form a ball. 6)      Rice flour should have moisture in it but not lumps. 7)      Clean the halved coconut shells using water. Cooking: 8)      Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of grated coconut in each coconut shell. 9)      Divide the rice flour into two. Add each portion to each coconut shell. 10)   Sprinkle another 1 Tbsp of grated coconut at the end of the filling. 11)   Boil water in electric rice cooker (or) in a large pan (or) in idli cooker (or) any other steamer. 12)   Place the steamer partition on the electric rice cooker. If you are using idli cooker, place the bottommost idli plate or if you are using any other steamer prepare the steamer for placing the shells. 13)    Place a wet cloth on the steamer and invert the coconut shell onto it, the mouth of the  shell facing boiling water. 14)   Steam for 10- 15 mins. 15)   Turn off the heat and slowly take off the coconut shell from steamer along with the cloth to avoid any fall off of rice flour. 16)   Place it on a plate and gently remove the coconut shell alone from the steamed rice flour. 17)   Serve hot with chicken curry. Note: 1)      Use white rice flour, wheat flour, rava or any other whole grains in the place of red rice flour.           Just make sure it should be coarsely powdered.    2)    Adjust the steaming time according to your steamer. Normal steaming time is 10 min in medium flame. Kerala Chicken curry / Nadan Kozhi curry

Servings:  2         Preparation Time: 10 mins Cooking time: 20 mins Level: Moderate Ingredients: 1)      Chicken                                               300 gm  2)      Onion                                                  200 gm (1 medium) 3)      Tomato                                                150 gm (1 medium) 4)      Green chilli                                          2 nos 5)      Curry leaves                                        10 nos 6)      Turmeric powder                                 ¼ Tsp 7)      Salt                                                      as required 8)      Coriander leaves                                 2-3 stems 9)      Vegetable oil                                       1 Tbsp For roasting & grinding: 1)    Coriander seeds                                  1 Tbsp 2)      Cumin seeds                                        1 Tsp 3)      Dried Red chilli                                    2 nos 4)      Black pepper                                       1 Tsp 5)      Cinnamon                                             1 nos – 5 cm length 6)      Cloves                                                   3 nos 7)      Fennel seeds                                        1 Tsp 8)      Green cardamom                                  2 nos 9)      Poppy seeds                                          ½ Tsp 10)   Garlic                                                     5 cloves 11)   Ginger                                                   15 gm 12)   Pearl onion                                            5 nos 13)   Grated coconut                                     ½ cup 14)   Vegetable oil                                       1 Tsp Method: Preparation: 1)      Clean the chicken and drain all the excess water. Marinate with little salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder. 2)      Chop the onion, green chiliies and tomatoes. 3)      Heat 1 tsp oil in a small pan. 4)      Add all the ingredients given under roasting and grinding except ginger and coconut. 5)      Roast till the spices leave aroma and the seeds are lightly brown. 6)      Keep aside till it cools and transfer to mixer jar for grinding. Now roast the grated coconut in the same pan till it become golden brown color. Set aside. 7)      Grind the coriander mixture adding the ginger and water little by little to a fine paste. 8)      Add the coconut to it and grind to combine well. Cooking: 1)      Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. 2)      Add curry leaves followed by onion and fry till translucent adding little salt and turmeric powder. 3)      Add the green chillies and tomatoes to the onion. Stir fry for 4-5 mins. 4)      Now add the marinated chicken. Toss till the chicken turns to white color. 5)      Add the ground paste and 1 cup of water. Mix well. 6)      Bring the heat to low. Close the lid and cook for about 15 mins. 7)      Check chicken pieces for doneness.  If needed add more water and allow boiling. The curry should be watery in consistent. 8)      When done, garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Note:

1)      Instead of grated coconut, you can also use coconut milk. In that case use 1 cup of milk.

2)      Use chicken.with bones.

3)      If you don’t have whole coriander seeds, use coriander powder.