Velan's Cuisine Extraordinaire

[mappi]

Pepper Chicken
(Semi-Dry)

Vessel : non-stick pressure cooker

Ingredients
(add more or less according to your likeness)

Chicken 1/2 kilo (with bones)
Onions 1 medium
Tomato 1 medium
Ginger Garic (cut them into pieces and crush them together)
Green chilli 1 long; finely chopped.
Jeera (Cummin Seeds) 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder 1/2 teaspoon
Oil (I used Kadal Ennai)
Pepper seeds - 2 teaspoon (attention to how much you add, it can turn the dish quite hot)
Fennel (Somb) seeds 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander power 1 teaspoon
Chilli Powder 1/4 teaspoon
Cloves 5
Cinamon stick
Cardmon 2 (crushed along with the skin)
Curry leaves
Corriander leaves
Salt

Preparation

1/ Cut meat into tiny pieces (bones into two). Wash the meat well, several times in flowing water until the meat becomes clear. Dry the meat to remove dampness (I place them on Kitchen paper or just leave it speard on a plate).

NOTE: cooking to be done on high flame. Be quick, stir and don't burn any ingredient.

2/ Heat a flat pan. When it is hot add fennel seeds and grill it until brown. Remove it and then add pepper seeds. When the pepper seeds start to burst, remove it and add it to the fennel seeds. Grind them to powder.

3/ Heat non-stick pressure cooker with oil. Add 1/2 teaspoon cummin seeds and allow it to splatter. Then add cloves, then cinnamon sticks, then cardamon, then curry leaves (let each ingredient flavour the oil for about a minute before you add the next one).

4/ Add chopped onions with green chilli and fry until onions turn white (do not burn them). Add ginger garlic paste and stir for a minute. Then add tomatoes and cook them all until tomatoes loose all their juice.

5/ Add meat and turn them constantly until they mix well with the tomato+onion mixture. Add turmeric & chilli powder, stir. Add corriader powder, stir. Add pepper+fennel power and stir until the meat is well mixed and coated with oil (the meat will turn white). Give two minutes of stir between each powder.

Note: Check the flame. Set it to medium if the meat or the masala sticks to the pan.

6/ Water : if you want to make it dry, add just 1/2 cup of water. For Semi-dry add one cup of water. Add salt and allow to boil in high flame. Close the lid and when steam blows out, place the regulator weight and wait for the first whistle. Put the flame to medium and pressure cook it for 5 whitles (or until the meat is tender).

Note : Pressure cooking time depends on the texture of the meat. Generally I pressure cook chicken to make them tender and soft for 5 whistles.

9/ Allow the pan to cool down and then open it. Add corriander leaves. In low flame stir the dish to get needed consistency (more you fry them, darker the dish will become).



I had the semi-dry pepper chicken with pepper rassam. This evening, I am going to dry them on an iron tawa in high flame to stuff them inside Uthappam, and say 'bye bye' to my cold.