Trivandrum Chicken Fry

Trivandrum Chicken Fry – A popular deep fried spicy dish in Kerala cuisine. Basic  recipe from Mrs K M Mathew (Vanitha magazine special recipes, June 1 – 15, 2013) !!

Serves: 2

Ingredients

200 g boneless chicken

1 tablespoon rice flour

6 curry leaves (optional)

200 ml oil (to deep fry)

For the spice paste:

1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder

½ teaspoon fennel powder (perum jeerapodi)

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ - inch piece ginger

4 cloves garlic, chopped

5 shallots (chuvannulli / small onion), chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Make a thick paste of above ingredients in a small mixer bowl.

Method

Wash and clean chicken  pieces. Drain out water completely and wipe each chicken pieces with a soft kitchen towel.

In a bowl, mix chicken pieces with spice paste. Marinate evenly. Cover and keep aside for two hours.

Sprinkle rice flour evenly over marinated chicken pieces just before frying (or 10 minutes).

Heat oil in a karahi / frying pan on high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and deep fry chicken until golden brown and crisp on both the sides (8 – 9 pieces at a time). Drain out from oil and place it on kitchen towel / paper towel to absorb extra oil. Please use 3 – 4 paper towels to absorb extra oil.

Deep fry curry leaves (optional) in hot oil and decorate.

Serve  fried chicken as a starter / side dish with rotis / parathas / pulao / biryani … Consume immediately.