Kuttanadan Chicken Roast

It's water water everywhere! That would be my best description for Pallikuttumma(Kuttanad,Alleppy). If there is any place on earth (I visited till date ;D) that I haven't had enough of the beauty,food and everything nice is my "MOTHERLAND" [Story for that weird name follows :D] We usually alight at Changanaserry and someone would already be there to pick us up and the best part of the vacation starts from Perunna ( that's where you take the turn to this heavenly place on earth)! There's something about the smell in the air...i love it! It's a mix of hay,water hyacinth,ducks, paddy and of course the water too! It's so rustic[hehe.. like rustic bread!] I just cant get enough of it!! The whole of Kuttanad is surrounded by water, full of ducks quacking all around,with snake boats small & big... mmm lovely memories flooding back! Just waiting for my next visit to Pallikuttumma!! :D

Today's post is all about the Chicken Roast Amma makes. It's got nothing to do with the western style roast...it's absolutely different!

It's an absolute simple recipe which is super duper easy ! I can promise you rather guarentee you that it will be an instant hit!! You just cannot go wrong with this one!! :)

Kuttanadan Chicken Roast

Recipe from my mom

Chicken- 1 kg cut into pieces

Red chilli powder-2 tbsp [We use Kashmiri red chilli powder because it lends a beautiful colour and is less spicy]

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

Onions-5-6 medium sized ,sliced fine

Tomatoes-2 big,chopped

Garam Masala-1 tbsp

Salt-as required

Ginger garlic paste- 2 tbsp

Water-1 1/2 cups

Ghee/Oil- 1/2 to 1 cup [We use half ghee -half oil]

Curry leaves-1 sprig

Method:

• Put chicken pieces, powders,salt and ginger garlic paste,onions,tomatoes and 3-4 tbsp of oil/ghee into the cooker and give it a mix.
• Cook on medium flame for 1 whistle.
• Remove the pieces. Reserve the gravy.
• Fry the pieces in oil/ghee till lightly browned.Keep aside.
• To the reseved gravy,add water and saute till it's dark maroonish brown in colour. Add oil/ghee if necessary.
• Add the fried chicken pieces and mix till well coated.
• Garnish with curry leaves and serve hot with rice,chapathi,parata etc.

The story behind"MOTHERLAND"

This happend when I was in class 2. I clearly remeber that I was sitting in the second last bench when this happend and it was almost time to go home.

We had a girl called 'Aline' in our class. She came from Dubai and could speak fluent English! OMG! now that's something big for us then! LOL! And we tried our level best to speak to her in English(she is a Konkani,but can speak Malayalam as well!) ! And it so happend that our school was closing for Christmas holidays and we kids were busy discussing about it. I was going to my Amma's house. And since Aline was sitting next to us, I was conscious to speak in english. Then my friend asked me " Ria, Ni evideya poonne?? " (which means-Ria, where are you going?) and in reply to that I said " To my 'MOTHERLAND' for 4-5 days and then i'll be back to myFATHERLAND!!!! "

LOL! I can't stop laughing even now! And the best part was no one...not even Aline...our english GURU then realised the mistake!! :P Now I know how much she knew!!

To know how much that english GURU knew...here's another story:

Most of the blogs have these lines under their post...to CONTINUE after the jump or toCONTINUE reading click here.... etc . Whenever I read that word this story comes into my mind:

Again in class 2 with Aline our english GURU :D

We used to have dictation( the teacher says a word and we need to spell it) for 10 english spellings every week.So we used to write it in our 'test book'. And even then there would be lot of space on that page. And after the test, we would line up in a queue next to the teacher's table for correction. Our teacher's name was Ms.Margaret.

After mine was corrected,she put the marks and signed on it. Then she said, "You canCONTINUE here(For the next test )". DAMN!! now what does continue mean?? Did that mean... to write down the spellings 10 times each?? (din't have the word imposition in my dictionary then LOL! ) or did it mean that I need to do wait there next to her???

I still clearly remeber the tension I had then!OMG! that classroom is coming into my mind now! :D So I ran to Aline without losing anytime (What if I get beaten by our teacher??) and asked her the meaning of CONTINUE ?? ALAS! she shook her head! LOL! I had no other go but to go back to my seat and wait ( din't have the nerves to go back to my teacher...she was a terror for us! ) hehehe...

Now it's time for y'all to see my MOTHERLAND! I love Pallikuttumma!!!

...paddy field

Kathakali performers being transported in a vellam/snake boat

Karimeen/Pearl spot barbeque night.

Hmmm... I felt like I just had a short trip back to my MOTHERLAND...did y'all feel the same?? ;)

-Ria