Nadan Chicken Curry (Village Style Kerala Chicken Curry)
on Dec 14, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This Nadan Chicken Curry is an easy yet special chicken curry from the state of Kerala! It’s got robust, rustic flavors of pepper, fennel, coconut, chillies, and curry leaves. Serve with roti, malabar parotta, rice, or pulao – it goes perfect with everything!
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 🤭
Jump to section: Nadan chicken curry
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:
- Heat a pan and dry roast all the spices on low heat for 3 minutes.
- Transfer to a plate to cool.
- Add the spices to a mixer grinder with ¼ cup of water to a smooth paste. Set aside.
Making Nadan Chicken:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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:
- Heat coconut oil, add mustard seeds, once they crackle, add rest of the ingredients for tempering and cook until the shallots turn golden brown.
- Add tempering to the chicken gravy and serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Kerala chicken curry has the rustic flavors of freshly roasted and ground whole spices – most particularly that of fennel seeds, coconut, and curry leaves. It’s a distinct flavor profile that makes this curry truly unique!
While this is a chicken curry recipe, you could make this gravy and add mushrooms, paneer and other veggies to it if you’d like. Alternatively, you could try out my cozy Kerala Veg Stew!
You can store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
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!!
Watch the Nadan Chicken Curry Recipe Video
Nadan Chicken Curry (Village Style Kerala Chicken Curry)
Ingredients
For ground masala:
- ½ tablespoon fennel seeds
- 10 pepper corns
- 8 cloves
- 2 cardamom
- ½ star anise
- 1 inch stick cinnamon
- ¼ cup water
For Curry:
- 500 grams bone-in chicken, curry cut, approx 2 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ cup coconut slices
- 10 curry leaves
- 2 green chillies
- 1 large onion, sliced (approx 1 cup or 115 gms)
- 10 sambar onions/shallots, peeled & sliced
- 1 ½ inch ginger, crushed
- 15 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ tablespoon red chilli powder
- 1 tablespoon kashmiri red chilli powder
- ½ tablespoon coriander powder
- 1 ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
For Tempering:
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 tablespoons coconut slices
- 1-2 whole dried red chilly
- 10 sambar onions/shallots, sliced thin
- 10 curry leaves
Instructions
Making spice paste:
- Heat a pan and dry roast all the spices on low heat for 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. Add the spices to a mixer grinder with ¼ cup of water to a smooth paste. Set aside.½ tablespoon fennel seeds, 10 pepper corns, 8 cloves, 2 cardamom, ½ star anise, 1 inch stick cinnamon, ¼ cup water
Making nadan curry:
- 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.1 tablespoon coconut oil, 2 bay leaves, ¼ cup coconut slices
- 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.10 curry leaves, 2 green chillies, 1 large onion, 10 sambar onions/shallots, 1 ½ inch ginger, 15 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon salt
- 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.500 grams bone-in chicken, 1 ¼ cup water
- 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.½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ tablespoon red chilli powder, 1 tablespoon kashmiri red chilli powder, ½ tablespoon coriander powder
- 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:
- Heat coconut oil, add mustard seeds, once they crackle, add rest of the ingredients for tempering and cook until the shallots turn golden brown.1 tablespoon coconut oil, ½ teaspoon mustard seeds, 2 tablespoons coconut slices, 1-2 whole dried red chilly, 10 sambar onions/shallots, 10 curry leaves
- Add tempering to the chicken gravy and serve.
Video
Notes
- Using bone-in chicken keeps the meat tender and juicy. Ideally, if large cuts of chicken are not available to you, use drumsticks and thighs which will work equally well.
- You may replace coconut oil with any other cooking oil of your choice.
- If sambar onions are not available, it may be replaced with ½ cup sliced onions. (instead of 10 sambar onions)
- Crushed ginger and garlic used in the recipe for its authentic taste and texture which may be replaced with ginger garlic paste.
Nutrition
This article was researched and written by Navya Khetarpal.
I am looking forward to making this, but can you please can you tell me if you use fresh (frozen) or dried coconut slices in this recipe?
Hey Jerry, this recipe uses fresh (frozen) coconut.
Thank you! So lucky that I chose to buy fresh/frozen! 🙂