Nadan Chicken Curry (Village Style Kerala Chicken Curry)

If you’ve been following me for a while, then you would remember my Chicken Curries of India series! I love trying out all the authentic variations of chicken curry out there, and this Nadan Chicken Curry (Nadan Kozhi Curry or Village Style Kerala Chicken Curry) is a recent favorite of mine.

The main flavor for this curry comes from the unique Kerala masala paste we make by roasting and grinding whole spices. It’s got the distinct flavor of fennel and you’ll get bits of whole coconut slices in every bite – making this chicken curry truly delicious!

The key to making the perfect Kerala Style Chicken Curry is to be generous with the spices – we add some at every stage of the recipe – from the ground masala to the curry to the tempering.

Once you try out this Kerala Chicken Curry recipe, there’s no going back! You’ll be a fan just like meee 🤭

Ingredients Overview

To make the ground masala, we combine fennel seeds, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, star anise, cinnamon along with some water.

For the curry, we use curry cut chicken, bay leaves, curry leaves, green chillies, onions, shallots, ginger and garlic along with our classic Indian spices.

To finish off, we temper with coconut oil, mustard seeds, whole coconut slices, dried red chillies, shallots, and more curry leaves.

How To Make Nadan Chicken Curry (Step-by-Step)

Making Spice Paste:

1. Heat a pan and dry roast all the spices on low heat for 3 minutes.
2. Transfer to a plate to cool.
3. Add the spices to a mixer grinder with ¼ cup of water to a smooth paste. Set aside.

Making Nadan Chicken:

1. Heat coconut oil in a kadhai or pan, add bay leaves & coconut slices & fry for a minute until coconut slices turn light brown. Take care not to burn them as they turn bitter if burnt.
2. Add curry leaves, green chillies & sliced onions, fry for 2 minutes, add shallots and ½ teaspoon salt and fry for another 2 minutes. Add crushed ginger & garlic and continue cooking until onions turn light golden.
3. Add chicken, mix well and roast on high heat for 3 minutes until chicken turns pink. Add ½ cup of hot water and cook covered for 5 minutes on medium heat.
4. Take all the powders listed under curry with ½ teaspoon salt in a bowl and add ¼ cup of water to it. Mix and make a thick paste and add it to the chicken and cook covered for 10 minutes until chicken is almost cooked.
5. Add ground spice paste along with ½ cup of hot water and cook covered on low for 5-8 minutes until chicken is cooked well.

Tempering:

1. Heat coconut oil, add mustard seeds, once they crackle, add rest of the ingredients for tempering and cook until the shallots turn golden brown.
2. Add tempering to the chicken gravy and serve.

Frequently Asked Questions

Richa’s Top Tricks

• I recommend using only bone-in chicken for this recipe so that the meat is juicy and tender. Don’t use boneless chicken here!
• A Kerala Style Chicken Curry does not include tomatoes. Which is why you’ll find that they are not included in the recipe.
• It’s important to thoroughly toast whole spices when making the ground masala paste. This makes a major difference in the final flavor profile.

If you have never tried this Nadan Chicken Curry, then you need to make some and tell me what you think! The unique flavours and textures going on here will have you hooked. And all it takes is just 40 minutes to bring this together!

So easy but so so unique. I hope you’re enjoying my Coast to Coast series so far ❤️. As always, send me your recreations on my IG @my_foodstory because I love to see them!!

This article was researched and written by Navya Khetarpal.