Here is the best of Mangalore that is going to fill your tummy and heart! This Chicken Kori Rotti/ Mangalorean Chicken Curry is also known as Kori Gassi. It is creamy, spicy and the perfect curry for dinner. The roasted spices used in it bring out the best flavors that are really hard to resist!
I'm on a roll guys! Giving you one curry after another, so tell me when you get bored. And if you haven't tried Mangalorean food yet, you are right in time! I won't blame you because I hadn't either, till I met Denver. And now I'm hooked. The first time I had kori rotti or kori gassi with rotti, I was expecting a light, coconutty curry, but man, this one's so spicy and addictive.
And it's unique. Because unlike everything else which is either had with rice or chapatis, there's a special crispy rice rotti that the curry is spooned over. It's messy messy business. And Denver and I literally pull our sleeves up and dig in. You take the rotti, crush it lightly on your plate and then pour all the curry over it. Let it sit for a minute (if you can wait that long) till you have both crispy bits and soggy bits and start eating. With your hands. No spoons allowed.
I can eat Mangalorean food EVERY day. The ghee roast is obviously sensational and I make a mean ghee roast (recipe coming up soon) and then there's the fish fry which has the most amazing marinade and the sukkas which I sadly, haven't mastered yet. So if any of you are Mangalorean and have a great chicken sukka recipe that you are willing to share, I'd be eternally grateful.
Denver gets so excited every time I make this. Like this morning, we had some with dosas (rice and lentil crepes) for breakfast. He ate more than his usual share, stopped when he was reaching for another dosa, looked at me and made the cutest puppy dog face. Because he couldn't stop eating!
The best part about Mangalorean food is the masala or mixture that's made with ground spices. And chances are, you probably have everything you need in stock already. I love how the kitchen smells when I'm roasting these spices, and the proportions work beautifully.
Top Tips to make the best Mangalorean Kori Rotti / Kori Gassi with Rotti
- Spices: Roasting the dry spices helps bring out their oil and aroma. Make sure to dry roast them on a low flame while stirring regularly to prevent them from burning.
- Turmeric: I love using a piece of whole dried turmeric in the masala for a powerful colour and mixture, but if you don't have access to it, substitute with ¾ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- Chicken: Buy pre-cut 'curry cut chicken'. The optimum size is 1.5 inches. Bigger pieces will take longer to cook. Bone in curry cut chicken ensures that the chicken remains juicy and doesn't dry out while cooking
- Rotti: I've only ever used store-bought rotti that's available at Mangalore stores. The process of making your own rottis is skilled with a lot of technique required.
If you don't have access to Rotti, try this with rice. You'll be missing out on the experience but you can't miss this chicken kori rotti! I'm already looking forward to dinner, because there's leftovers 😉
Try this with Mangalorean Fish Fry
More Recipes from Coastal India:
Watch the Video
Chicken Kori Rotti | Mangalorean Chicken Curry
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1 kg Chicken Curry Cut
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Masala
- 2 tablespoons Ghee
- 2 Onion Large , sliced
- ¾ cup Coconut Grated
- 1 piece Tamarind Lime sized ball
- ½ inch Turmeric whole (See Note 1)
- 1 tablespoon Coriander Seeds Whole Dhaniya seeds
- 1 teaspoon Peppercorns Kali Mirch
- ½ teaspoon Fenugreek Methi seeds
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Jeera seeds
- 1 pod Garlic peeled (See Note 2)
- 8 Salem Gundu Dry Red Chillies small round red (spicy variety)
- 12 Kashmiri Dry Red Chillies wrinkeld red (more colour, less spice)
- 1 - 1 ½ cups Water
Curry
- ¾ cup Coconut Milk thin (See Note 3)
- ½ cup Coconut Milk thick
- Salt to taste
- Curry Leaves optional
Instructions
Chicken Marinade
- Start the prep with the chicken marinade. Combine chicken pieces, turmeric powder and salt. Keep aside and allow to marinate.
Masala
- In a pan, heat a tablespoon of ghee and add one sliced onion, grated coconut, tamarind and turmeric. Fry for 8-10 minutes till the coconut and onions start turning slightly brown and toasty.
- In another pan, dry roast coriander, pepper, fenugreek, cumin, garlic and both types of chilies, till you get a slightly sweetish, spicy smell. This should take about 5 minutes. Be careful to roast on a low flame so as not to burn the spices.
- Once cooled, grind both, the coconut mixture and the spice mixture together, with about 1 cup of water into a smooth paste. Add more water if necessary.
Curry
- In a large pot, pour the ground masala or mixture, add thin coconut milk and the remaining sliced onions. Bring this to a boil and add the chicken pieces and salt.
- Simmer the curry till chicken is cooked (this takes about 35-40 mins). Mix in the thick coconut milk. Stir once and switch off the flame. Top with a tablespoon of ghee and serve hot with rottis, rice and mangaloreanfish fry.
Video
Notes
- If you don't have whole turmeric, substitute with ¾ teaspoon turmeric powder.
- If you are using pre-peeled garlic, use 10 - 12 cloves
- Most packaged coconut milk is first pressing or thick coconut milk. To make thin coconut milk from it, add half water and half coconut milk for one cup thin coconut milk.
Shweta Gala says
Hey. This recipe is simply fantastic. It turned out like any other manglorean kori roti I have eaten. It went just well the the roti which I ordered specially from the local manglorean village. The blend of the spices was just perfect.
Richa says
Awesome!! Thanks for leaving a comment Shweta
Grissel says
Kori roti is my favourite dish, thanks so much for this amazing Mangalorean cuisine recipe.
Richa says
Thanks Grissel! I love this recipe too!
Sheryl says
Awesome recipe .tastes really gud
Anuradha Silveira says
I tried it yesterday for dinner. This recipe is awesome! Thanks for the precise instructions and tips.
Richa says
So glad you liked it Anuradha!
Chandra Hosamane says
I was craving the Kori Rotti for few weeks, so yesterday I finally decided to put in the effort. Picked up all the incredients yesterday and followed your recipe to the letter. Substituted powders in case of Coriander, Termeric and Cumin. The Cori Curry turned out great. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Richa says
Yay! Glad you liked this kori curry so much. Thanks for trying it out and leaving a comment here!
Siddhi Ghai says
Hi Richa,
I'd like to say this is my favorite recipe of yours but then it would be us unjust to all your other recipes! So I will instead say that it is one of my favorite recipes by you and as absolute go to when I am having someone over for the first time!
I just had an observation that i wanted to share:
Initially, every time i made this recipe i ended up burning my dry spices. By the time i came to the be careful line it was too late. Obviously, don't make that mistake anymore but in the future if such warning came a line before it would really help people like me, who are new to cooking!
I love your recipes and look forward to trying the new ones every week! Thank you for teaching me how to cook!
Richa says
Heeeeeey you!! Thanks for leaving a comment - I'll make sure to edit and fix that in the recipe so that other people don't make the same mistake.
Sheetal says
Nice receipe very tasty. My kids don't like chicken curry usually. But when I told them to taste the chicken curry. Which u posted they loved it so much. It went on good a day tasty on rice vermicelli.
Richa says
Thanks for your feedback Sheetal. So glad you liked it!
Shalini says
Just made this today. Excellent recipe and so yummy. Love the taste of the ghee roast in it.
Richa says
So glad you liked it. Thanks Shalini!
Preeja says
This has been my all time favorite chicken dish.. Although I make this often, I will definitely try your recipe....the visual and textual description of this Mangalorean fare makes me drool....
richagupta says
It's one of my favorite Mangalorean recipes too! I love the spice and balance in this curry. I hope you give my version a go 🙂
Richa Gupta says
Thanks Mickey 🙂
Richa Gupta says
Dolphia it's like a Sunday favorite at home. Denver loves it!
Richa Gupta says
Dolphia it's like a Sunday favorite at home. Denver loves it!
Mickey Yekcim says
Yummmmm
Dolphia Nandi-Arnstein says
I have to try this!! It looks absolutely delicous and your pictures are tempting me ????????????
Ramya Menon says
I was craving this the other day. Fellow readers as someone who has tasted this fare, its absolutely yummzilicious!