Nadan Kozhi Curry

Name: Nadan Kozhi Curry
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Kerala
Ingredients: 800 g chicken, curry-cut with bone; 150 g Grated coconut; 150 g Shallots; 20 g Ginger; 20 g Garlic; 2 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder; 2 tbsp Coriander powder

A deeply flavoured Kerala home-style chicken curry built on dark roasted coconut and a coarse spice paste, finished with curry leaves and coconut oil.

🇮🇳India· Kerala

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 45 min
Total: 70 min
Servings: 4
Difficulty: Medium
Calories: 380 kcal

Ingredients

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Servings

800 g chicken, curry-cut with bone — small pieces
150 g Grated coconut — fresh
150 g Shallots — sliced
20 g Ginger — chopped
20 g Garlic — chopped
2 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder — for colour
2 tbsp Coriander powder

Equipment

•Clay pot (manchatti)
•Heavy kadai
•Grinding stone or blender

Nutrition

Per serving, approximate

Calories: 380 kcal
fat: 26 g
carbs: 9 g
fibre: 3 g
protein: 28 g
calories: 380 kcal

Instructions

1
Grind the grated coconut with a splash of water to a smooth paste and keep it aside.
2
Crush the ginger and garlic together. Slice the shallots thin.
3
Heat coconut oil in a heavy pan and fry the shallots until golden, then add the ginger-garlic and cook until the raw smell goes.
4
Lower the heat, add the kashmiri chilli powder and coriander powder with a splash of water, and roast the masala for a minute so it does not burn.
5
Add the chicken with salt, turn it through the masala and cook covered on low heat for 15 minutes in its own juices.
6
Pour in about 200 ml hot water, cover and simmer until the chicken is tender, roughly 20 minutes.
7
Stir in the coconut paste and simmer for 5 more minutes without letting it boil hard. Finish with curry leaves fried in a spoon of coconut oil and serve with appam or rice.

Chef's tips

Roasting the coconut slowly over low heat is the key step; rushing it gives a raw taste instead of the desired nutty depth. Use bone-in chicken for a richer stock. The curry tastes even better the next day.

Ingredient substitutions

fresh grated coconut → frozen grated coconut, thawed
Kashmiri chilli powder → regular chilli powder reduced by half, plus paprika for colour

Storage

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Reheating

Reheat gently on the stovetop over low flame, adding a splash of water if the gravy has thickened too much.

Common mistakes to avoid

•Roasting the coconut on high heat, which burns it unevenly and turns it bitter.
•Adding the spice powders directly to hot oil without lowering the flame, which scorches them.