Chettinad pepper chicken masala: a spicy and delicious chicken recipe from Chettinad in South India. The fiery meat dishes in Chettinad are world-famous and this pepper chicken masala truly lives up to the Chettinad chicken recipes fame.
I’d shared a recipe for dry pepper chicken a while back but that’s before I tried this much better variation recently. I have been out of blogging action for a while thanks to a lot of stuff happening in my life right now (mostly good folks, mostly good) but obviously I am still cooking and eating as much as before, if not more. This gorgeous pepper chicken happened one Sunday night for dinner which explains the otherwise inexplicable lighting situation going on in the first two pictures of the dish.
Bloggers introduce their recipes with a dash of behind-the-scenes, what’s going on in their lives, how they came to make this dish, etc. Sometimes we talk about how good it was and how everyone else must go ahead and make it. But anecdotes and stories that explain why others in their lives want repeats of a dish all the time are quite rare so when I saw Deepa talking about this Chettinad pepper chicken her husband loves, I knew I had to try it. This is the first time (I think) I used freshly ground spices to such great results and I don’t know how I’ll ever go back to my lazy self that just adds store-bought coriander powder, etc, to my dishes.
I have adapted the original recipe and increased the amount of spices to suit my taste buds so if you like your chicken dishes on the dry and greasy side with lots of kick and heat from spices, then drop everything now and go make this. Unless you are vegetarian, in which case, try it with potatoes or mushrooms. Obviously, you can control the grease by reducing the amount of oil but I strongly recommend going with the full amount listed below. Trust me on this.
Other chicken recipes that I absolutely love and make often for guests, especially:
Butter Chicken
Chicken Curry in Coconut Milk
Chilli Chicken
Kerala Chicken Curry
Pakistani Chicken Jalfrezi
- 250 gm boneless chicken pieces, cubed
- A fistful of curry leaves
- 2 tbsp oil (I used coconut oil)
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- ¼ tsp fennel seeds, saunf (optional)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ginger, grated or finely chopped
- 1 cup onions, sliced
- ½ cup of cubed tomato or 1 tsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1-2 dry red chillies (adjust to taste)
- 1 tsp whole black pepper (adjust to taste)
- 3" piece of cinnamon
- 3 green cardamom pods
- Dry-roast the spices in a skillet until they turn a shade darker and fragrant.
- Cool and pound coarsely in a pestle or mortar or using a spice/coffee grinder.
- Heat the oil in a wide pan and turn to low heat. Add the mustard seeds and fennel and then they sizzle and pop, add the ground spices, fry for 10 seconds until fragrant and then add the ginger, garlic, onions, and curry leaves.
- Fry until the onions are soft and then add the tomatoes or tomato paste. Mix well.
- Now add the chicken pieces and stir well to coat them with the spices.
- Add 1 cup of water, bring to boil, lower heat to simmer, and cook covered for about 15 mins or until the chicken pieces are cooked through.
- You should uncover and stir in between every 3-4 mins to make sure nothing is burning. After about 15 mins, the gravy should be thick and the spices should be coating the chicken. If this is not the case, cook with the pan open for a few more minutes
Step by Step Chettinad Pepper Chicken Masala Recipe:
1. Dry-roast the spices (use the seeds from the cardamom pods) in a skillet until they turn a shade darker and fragrant.
2. Cool and pound coarsely in a pestle or mortar or using a spice/coffee grinder.
3. Heat the oil in a wide pan and turn to low heat. Add the mustard seeds and fennel and then they sizzle and pop, add the ground spices, fry for 10 seconds until fragrant…
… and then add the ginger, garlic, onions, and curry leaves.
4. Saute until the onions are soft and then add the tomatoes or tomato paste. Mix well.
5. Now add the chicken pieces and stir well to coat them with the spices.
6. Add 1 cup of water, bring to boil, lower heat to simmer, and cook covered for about 15 mins or until the chicken pieces are cooked through.
You should uncover and stir in between every 3-4 mins to make sure nothing is burning. After about 15 mins, the gravy should be thick and the spices should be coating the chicken. If this is not the case, cook in the open pan for a few more minutes.
All done! Serve hot as an appetizer, with rice, roti, dosa, chapatis, parotta, anything at all. This lip-smacking Chettinad pepper chicken masala goes with everything.
Notes:
– You can also use chicken pieces with bone, just cut into the size you desire and adjust cooking times accordingly
– I have a high spice and heat tolerance when it comes to meat dishes, so adjust your spice levels to your taste
– If you don’t have curry leaves, please don’t make this. Ok you can, but it won’t taste as nice. Special thanks to Deepa for the fresh curry leaves from her mom’s garden.
For Chettinad pepper chicken masala recipe in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Urdu etc please use the Google translate button in the sidebar
All recipes are tried & tested & were yummy n delicious , keep sending all old n new recipes
thanks for this awesome recipe, i tried it, it was awsome, thanks for this delicious recipe
“I LOVED IT!!!”
Hi!
First of all thanks for such an amazing recipe ! It came out really well when I used 250 gms chicken. But yesterday I tried with 1 kg chicken and added 4 times the ingredients mentioned in the recipe and the flavor was too strong .. Not sure how much spices I should use if I am cooking in bulk for my friends and family as multiplying the ingredients based on the amount of chicken used, failed for me. Any suggestions ?
ah yes, i would start by doubling the spices for 4x chicken because these spices tend to be quite intense. sorry it went wrong the first time but do try again and add less in the beginning. you can always top up if needed
Honestly I have never posted a comment for a recipe.. I cooked this with sunflower oil still the taste was amazing. Thanks for sharing 😍
aww thanks Sindy!
Hi nags
I just had a craving for South Indian food and this recipe saved my day ! As a Singaporean living in Perth, I find it hard to get good South Indian food so thank you for this wonderful recipe. Bet that I will be following your blog from now on. Keep up the good work 🙂
thank you so much jaspreet 🙂 glad you enjoyed the recipe
Turned out slightly sweetish and the ground Cinnamon felt like a layer of finely powdered wood. I think that 3″ of Cinnamon versus just 1 tsp of Pepper needs to be reconsidered.
Anyway I remain your loyal fan. 😃
hi there, thanks for leaving the note. i think the difference is in using the Indian cinnamon bark and powdering yourself versus using the readymade cinnamon powder which is sweeter and used mainly for baking. Indian cinnamon is not as sweet and has a rough and coarse texture. Of course, adjust all ingredients to your preference, more pepper if you like more spice 🙂
Wonderful recipe! Tried it today and it came out well.
thank you anita 🙂
Fantastic taste. So easy to cook. Whole wanted more only cooked enough for 4.
thank you!
It’s a awessom thanks for recipe
Nice recipe. Easy and fast to cook. I tried it out and turned out to be a super hit. Thanks
Thank you Sharmii
easy steps and good recipe. I used to make pepper chicken but it never tasted this good. I never fried the spices before and that made the differences. wife devoured the entire chicken!.
whats your actual website?
hmm.. this is my actual website! 🙂 thank you for the feedback on the pepper chicken
Very tasty chicken. Enjoyed a lot. Must try to make once again and again more frequently as and when possible. Thanks for your recipe.
thank you! really glad you enjoyed it
I made this today and it turned out very good! I used a whole chicken and I think I added a little bit more onions so it was sweet but had a peppery punch. Thanks for sharing this recipe 🙂
yum! thanks shanaaz
Hey, tried this recipe today….not sure if i missed it out and probably a silly question….when do you add salt?
hey sheetal, sorry for not mentioning it in the recipe, you can add it towards the end when the chicken has cooked
this pic is just make us feel tempting mam!!
great!! i am gonna to try this now specially for my bro!!
let me know if you try it nithia 🙂
hi im from cape town and whilst reading your mpouth watering yummy recipes im going to at least try one or two . im very impressed thank you…blessing to you and your family friends over the festive season
Thank you so much! have a wonderful new year