Chicken Ularthiyathu

Our favorite dishes to order from the Kerala restaurant here, is chicken ularthiyathu and Kerala Parotta. It is awesome. I have been thinking to recreate it at home. 

When Julie posted her recipe of Chicken Ularthiyathu, I bookmarked it immediately to try it. One day, I tried something very similar to her version and it came out really well. It was greatly appreciated by both the boys. I knew this recipe is a keeper and I have to blog about it to record it. So here it is. 

Ingredients

For marination

1. 1/2 kg of chicken 
2. 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
3. 1 tsp of Kashmiri chilly powder
4. 1/2 tsp of pepper powder
5. 1/2 tsp of salt

For cooking of chicken 

1. 1 tbsp of oil 
2. 1 1/2 cup of sliced onion
3. 1 1/2 tsp of ginger paste
4. 1 1/2 tsp of garlic paste
5. 1 strand of curry leaves
6. 1 tomato finely chopped
7. 8-10 sliced coconut/ Thengakothu
8. 1 1/2 tsp of coriander powder
9. 1/2 tsp of Kashmiri chilly powder
10. 1/2 tsp of garam masala 

For the stir fry of chicken 

1. 1 tbsp of oil
2. 1 cup of sliced onion 
3. 2-3 dry red chillies 
4. 1 strand of curry leaves 
5. 1/2 tsp of pepper powder
6. 1/2 tsp of garam masala 

Method

• Mix all the ingredients for marination in a bowl. Marinate the chicken in it and keep it aside for about an hour. 

Cooking of the chicken 

• In a pressure cooker, heat the oil. Once hot, add the onion, ginger, garlic and curry leaves . Sprinkle some salt and sauté it until the onions turn tender. Add the kashmiri chilly powder, coriander powder and garam masala. Mix it well. Add the chopped tomatoes and let it cook until the tomatoes disappear. 
• Add the marinated chicken and sliced coconut/ Thengakothu. Give it all a mix. Add about 3/4 cup of water and cover the pressure cooker. Cook it under pressure, on medium heat until a whistle goes off. Turn off the heat. 
• Once the pressure subsides, open the pressure cooker and check for salt. If there is lot of gravy bring it to a boil to reduce it. The gravy should be thick.

Stir fry of chicken 

• In a heavy bottom pan, heat the oil . Once hot add the onion , dry red chilly and curry leaves. Sauté it until the onion looses its rawness and is soft. Add the pepper powder and garam masala. Give it a stir. 
• To it add the cooked chicken and give it a mix. Turn on the heat to high. Let the chicken gravy reduce and give a more or less dry version. 
• Check for pepper and salt and adjust according to your taste. Remove it from the heat. Serve it warm.

Tips

1. The chicken shouldn't overcook in the pressure cooker, else when they are stir fried, they would start falling apart and won't remain in shape.
2. Some salt is added during the marination. So you should accordingly add salt while cooking it in the pressure cooker and also while stir frying.