Keralan Green Chicken Curry

India is a country I’d very much like to visit and one of many cities on my list is Kerala. Kerala is named as one of the ‘Ten Paradises of the World’ and ‘Fifty Places of a Lifetime’ by the National Geographic Traveler Magazine. Keralan cuisine is influenced by its coastline and flavored by coconut grown there. You’ll find tropical fruits, vegetables, and herbs, topped with familiar scents of pepper, cardamom, chilies and cloves. Kerala’s cuisine is different from the rest of India and is all about aromas and colors. What’s interesting about Kerala is the different culinary communities, all of which have distinctly different dishes. While Hindus specialize in vegetarian food, the Muslims and Christians excel in non vegetarian cuisine. Almost every dish prepared in Kerala has spices added to it. Next to rice, dhal or gram is the most widely used staples. Two of Kerala’s favorite dishes are made from slightly fermented dhal and rice, called Idlis and thin crisp pancakes called Dosas. Both are favorites of mine which I sampled in Singapore’s, Little India.

Spices play not only an important part in the flavoring of food, but also for their health benefits. Spices have more antioxidant power, measure for measure, than fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants help prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and premature aging. In a study reported in the British Journal of Nutrition, fifteen aromatic herbs and spices consumed in Central Italy as part of the Mediterranean diet were studied to reveal total phenolic, flavonoid and flavanol content. Click here to read more.

Serves 6 to 8
recipe adapted from Women & Home
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1 to 3 large green chilies (depending on your heat tolerance), deseeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon each turmeric, ground coriander and cinnamon
2.5cm (1 in.) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 garlic cloves
3 tablespoon flavorless oil, such as groundnut
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 cloves
2 onions, sliced
12 skinless free-range chicken thigh fillets, cut into large chunks
200ml (7 oz.) reduced-fat coconut milk
large bunch fresh coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped
juice of 1 lime

In a pestle and mortar, pound together the chillies, turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, ginger and garlic with a pinch of salt. Heat the oil in a large wok or sauté pan, and add the fresh paste. Stir well, cooking the spices. Stir in the cloves and onions and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes. Add the chicken and stir well, so that it is covered in the spices. Pour coconut milk over the chicken and gently simmer until the chicken is cooked through (about 20 minutes). If the sauce starts to dry out, turn the heat down further and add a bit more water. Taste for seasoning, it will probably need salt. To serve, add the coriander and stir through with the lime juice.  Serve with a side of basmati steamed rice.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: This curry is a good way to get used to the heat of the dish. Some recipes will show curry leaf in the list of ingredients but unless you have a curry tree growing in your back yard, the leaf will have lost its flavor by the time it reaches your kitchen! In their fresh form, they have a short shelf life, and they don’t keep well in the refrigerator. They are also available dried, though the aroma is largely inferior. Curry powder is a western way to mimic the flavor of fresh curry leaves. If you can find ‘fresh’ curry leaves, then add 10 to the wok before adding the paste.

By the Glass Tasting Note: Here’s a dish that gives lots of wine options (albeit all in the fragrant white section). The rule here is to find a wine with a similar amount of exotic intensity, some rich fruit character on the palate (a little residual sweetness doesn’t hurt) and some decent cleansing acidity. From there if the wine veers more to tropical tones rather than floral tones or orchard fruit flavours its all a bit of your choice of seasoning. I’m sure I could enjoy this delicious dish with an Alsatian Gewurztraminer one night, a Nova Scotian Muscat another and a ripe Germanic style Riesling on another. Variety is as the say the spice of life.