Trivandrum Chicken Fry

Everyone has a childhood favourite fast food which holds a special place in your heart always. Having spent majority of my schooling and childhood in Trivandrum when the number of fast food joints were far less in number than in the current period, it was a porotta or chapati and chicken fry that was luxury those days. There was Trivandrum chicken corner with their famous ‘poricha kozhiyum chapathiyum’ which was quite famous since quite a few decades. And yes they do have outlets outside Trivandrum as well. There were also few other Thattukadas in Trivandrum in the sasthamangalam area which were another of the favourites serving Thattukada style chicken fry and fresh Kerala porotta which also had amazing flavours and hit the spices at the right spot.

So I was always hopeful that I would try to recreate this kind of chicken fry and I must say after some trial and errors over the recent years I have finally managed to come up with a recipe close to my expectations of the ones served in the above mentioned places in Trivandrum and hence this dish has been named as ‘Trivandrum Chicken Fry’. I am not a Chapathi lover but this is one combination I would have chapati with happily because it’s a perfect combo. It goes well with Kerala Porotta and boiled rice as well.

This recipe doesn’t involve deep frying the chicken as such but even though the amount of oil used is considerably less than for a usual deep fried version, it still helps to attain the spicy flavours and the soft texture of the chicken which is the highlight.

When I uploaded this dish on Instagram, I had a few asking me for the recipe and since it was a dish whipped up quickly one night for dinner and not following a specific written recipe – I took a few days to write down the recipe and try it out one more time confidently before sending it out to others. This has now become a favourite weekly dish at our home and also I am overwhelmed to see the response for this dish on Instagram and happy that many did try out the dish and keep sending me reviews and photos of their recreations of this recipe. I am ever so thankful to all who took time to try this out and let me know about it too.

And to all who haven’t made it yet, please do and send in your photos and feedback too.

Here goes the recipe.

RECIPE

Chicken – 1 kg

Marination

Kashmiri Chilli Powder – 3 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala – 1 tsp
Crushed black pepper – 1 tsp
Chicken Masala powder – 1 tbsp
Red chilli flakes – 1 to 2 tbsp according to spice tolerance level
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp

Salt – to taste

For frying
Onion – 1 big (cut into thin slices)
Green chillies – 6 slit longitudinally
Curry leaves

Red chilli flakes – 1 tbsp
Garlic – 10 pods finely chopped 
Ginger (chopped ) – 1 tbsp

Steps

1. Marinate the chicken with the contents for marination for atleast 2 hours

2. Keep a kadai or wok on medium heat and add in 3 to 4 tbsp coconut oil.

3. When hot add in some curry leaves, red chilli flakes, finely chopped ginger and garlic and sauté well for 2-3 minutes. Then add in half of the chopped onions and sauté well. 

4. When the onions are lightly browned add in the marinated chicken and mix it well. Keep it covered for 10 to 15 minutes stirring and mixing it in between so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the vessel.

5. Now once chicken is half cooked open and increase the flame to high and fry it – add oil if necessary. Add in rest of the chopped onion more curry leaves and green chillies slit and keep frying and mixing till you get the dark red colour and chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Serve hot with chapati/ Kerala porotta/boiled rice