Chicken chettinad gravy recipe – South India’s most flavorful dish made with chicken, fresh ground spices & herbs. Based on the authentic chettinad chicken recipe many modern versions have been derived, especially by the restaurateurs. Over the years, I got to taste a few which almost tasted same except the texture, color and the hint of spices.
Chicken chettinad is one of the most flavorful chicken dishes from the South Indian cuisine. It is said to be the most ordered in the Indian restaurants.
The recipe shared here is the one I felt close to the restaurant style chettinad chicken gravy. After several trials I arrived at this and can say this is one of the best flavorful and delicious chicken gravy.
This recipe is roughly adapted from a cook book. To make chicken chettinad, a unique blend of spices is deep roasted and ground. This spice blend brings in a great essence to the dish.
There is also a chettinad chicken varuval recipe on the blog, which is a dry chettinad style chicken fry.
More similar chicken gravy recipes
Simple chicken curry
Andhra chicken
Kerala chicken
You can serve this with ghee rice, simple jeera rice, mint or pudina pulao.
Chicken chettinad recipe
Chicken chettinad
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
- 500 grams chicken (or ½ kg) (bone-in is best)
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 onion large, finely chopped
- 1 to 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 2 tomatoes medium, (pureed) (or chopped finely)
- 1 bay leaf
Marination
- 1/8 tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp curd or yogurt (helps to keep the chicken soft)
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste (or 4 garlic cloves + 1 inch ginger)
- Salt as needed
Chettinad masala (roast and grind)
- 1 tbsp Poppy seeds (or pottukadalai or 6 to 8 cashews)
- ¼ cup coconut grated
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- ¾ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp pepper corn
- 4 to 5 red chilies (or 1 tsp red chili powder)
- 3 green cardamoms (or elaichi)
- 4 cloves
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
How to make the recipe
Preparation
- Add chicken, turmeric, chili powder, curd,salt and ginger garlic paste to a bowl. Marinate the chicken and set aside.
- On a low flame, dry roast coriander seeds and red chilies. When the coriander seeds begin to smell good, add elaichi, jeera, saunf, pepper, cinnamon and cloves. Roast till cloves smell good.
- Next add poppy seeds. Quickly toss. Make sure not to burn the masala. You can also set these aside to a plate before adding coconut.
- Add coconut and fry until the coconut smells good.
- Cool all these. Add them to a blender jar and pour little water. Make a smooth paste. Set aside the masala to a small bowl.
- In the same jar, grind tomatoes to smooth. You can also use chopped tomatoes.
Making chicken chettinad
- Heat oil in a pan, add bay leaf and onions. Fry till they turn translucent to golden.
- Transfer the chicken and fry for at least 4 to 5 mins.
- Add tomatoes, turmeric, salt and chili powder (if using). Mix well and fry till the oil begins to separate.
- Then add the ground paste and curry leaves. Fry for 2 to 3 mins.
- Pour 1 ¼ cup water. I use hot water. Using cold water sometimes toughens the chicken. Cover and cook till it is fully done, soft and tender.
- The gravy becomes thick by then. If not cook without a lid and evaporate some water. Pour more water if needed to get the desired consistency. Cook till the chicken gravy thickens. Garnish with fried curry leaves.
- Serve chicken chettinad gravy with rice or phulka.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
If you are a beginner or new to Indian cooking, I highly suggest you to check the supporting step by step photos for best results. Step by step photos with description available below after the recipe card.
Preparation
1. On a low flame dry roast coriander and red chilies first. When you smell the coriander seeds good, then add saunf, cumin, pepper corn, cardamoms, cloves and cinnamon.
2. When they begin to smell good, add poppy seeds. When the poppy seeds turn crisp. Transfer to a plate if you desire.
3. Roast coconut until it smells good. Cool all of these and blend to a smooth paste. Add water just as needed. Transfer the paste to a bowl.
4. In the same blender, add tomatoes and puree. This is optional and can use tomatoes as such chopped finely.
5. Marinate chicken with turmeric, chilli powder, curd, ginger garlic paste and salt.
How to make chicken chettinad
6. Heat a pan with oil and bay leaf. Add onions and fry till transparent to golden. Golden gives a good taste to the gravy, since i cooked in a stainless steel pan, they don’t turn to golden.
7. Add chicken and fry for about 4 to 5 minutes. The raw smell of the ginger garlic has to go away.
8. Add tomatoes.
9. I used red chili powder just for the color. Add the tomato puree, red chili powder, salt and turmeric as well.
10. On a medium flame, fry till the mixture begins to leave oil. This takes about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the chettinad masala paste and curry leaves. Fry again for 2 to 3 minutes.
11. Add water as needed.
12. Cook covered till the chicken is fully cooked, soft and tender. I garnished with fried curry leaves.
Serve chicken chettinad with rice or phulka.
Varsha says
Excellent recipes
swasthi says
Thanks Varsha
Ram Kumaran. M says
I tried this recipe with Chicken last week it turned out well, today replaced chicken with Mutton, it also was yummy. Nice blend of spices. Love it and thanks for sharing the recipe.
swasthi says
Thank you!
Glad to know it turned out good.
DANIEL JOSEPH DSOUZA says
Hi,
Should I use dessicated coconut or regular coconut in this recipe???
Thanks
swasthi says
Hi,
Fresh coconut is preferred. If you don’t have then you may use desiccated coconut
Yogeswari Saddanathan says
Made this recipe of chettinad chicken curry! It turned out so very delicious. I have tried so many different recipes but yours suited our taste buds the best. I had to increase the red chilli powder X5, my husband loves extra extra extra hot food! Sticking this and sharing your recipe with giving you credit 🙂 !
swasthi says
Hi,
Glad to know! Can’t imagine red chilli powder X5… Just wondering how hot it would have been.
Thank you!
Debdutta Bhattacharjee Ray says
Hello! Tried this for the first time and it was sumptuous! I used both poppy seed and cashew 1:1 ratio. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
swasthi says
Hi,
You are welcome!
Glad to know it turned out good.
Thank you
Usha says
Hello Swasthi, I tried the chicken chettinad recipe today and my kids loved it.
Thanks a lot.
swasthi says
Hi Usha, Glad to know! Thank you
Ganesh says
Hi Swasthi,
I tried your recipe and the dish was simply awesome. I liked with cashew instead of poppy or pottu kadalai. Thanks for posting this recipe.
Cheers.
swasthi says
Hello Ganesh,
You are welcome! Glad to know it turned out great.
Thank you!
Ragini says
Tried this today and it came out good! So, except for 1-2 ingredients which I didn’t have at home tried managing with the rest! Thanks a lot!
swasthi says
Hello Ragini
You are welcome! Glad to know it came out good.
Thank you
Bec says
I don’t have a lot of experience cooking Indian food, but chicken chettinad is my favorite, so I thought I would give it a try, what with restaurants being closed.
I found this recipe easy to follow, engaging to make, and most importantly, delicious! Thank you so much for publishing it.
swasthi says
Hi Bec,
You are welcome. Glad to know it turned out delicious. Thank you
Shubhra Samuel says
I made this recipe for Easter and it turned out to be amazing. The best thing about your cooking is that you don’t use or recommend high end ingredients, it’s always basic ingredients that are readily available in kitchen. That’s the main reason why you arr my go to person for any special cooking. I’ve also tried the sambhar recipe and chicken fry too, both were winners in my home. Thank you!
swasthi says
Hi Shubra,
You are welcome! Glad to know! Thanks much for the comment.
🙂
Latha Murthy says
Prepared as per the recipe, it was superb
swasthi says
Glad to know Latha
Nayan Tandon says
Very nice recipe. Tried it for the first time. Very easy and yummy. Thanks.
swasthi says
Welcome Nayan Tandon
Glad to know! Thank you
RJ says
Hi Swasthi, I made this dish tonight and it worked out really well. Very tasty.
Your instructions are clear and your recipes are high quality and authentic (as far as this white guy can tell, anyway). I have made a few other of your dishes before: aloo baingan and pumpkin masala. Both have also turned out great and have become staples of mine.
Thank you for your work and sharing these recipes. Maybe consider a YouTube channel in the future?
swasthi says
Hi RJ,
You are welcome! Glad to know the recipes turned out good. Thank you so much! Here is Swasthi’s Recipes youtube channel.
Faryal says
Absolutely delicious! Recipe was very easy to follow. Thank u 🥰
swasthi says
Hi Faryal
You are welcome! Glad you liked it. Thank you!
Mel says
Can I make this with vegetarian chicken? Do I make any changes to the recipe if so?
swasthi says
Yes you can use. Even mixed veggies like potatoes, peas, cauliflower etc go well in this
D S PANICKER says
Awesome recipe, I have made it today. Came out really well.
swasthi says
Thank you!
Glad it turned out good.
Avishek Dan says
Tastes wonderful but I’d have preferred stronger South Indian flavors. Do you have any suggestions? Using coconut oil would have helped.
swasthi says
Hi Avishek,
Thanks for trying. If you want the spice levels to go up then add another tsp of pepper and half tsp of saunf. If you have used red chilli powder then try using red chilies. All of these will impart stronger chettinad flavors. Yes you can also try with coconut oil.