Kozhi Nirachathu/Stuffed Chicken is a delicacy that comes highly recommended from the kitchens of Malabar.
Ingredients
For the Marinade
1 whole chicken, cleaned and scored (without skin)
½ tsp chilli powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
Salt as required
1tbsp lemon juice
For the Filling
2 hard boiled eggs
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 green chillies, chopped
1-2 small tomatoes, chopped
A few sprigs of curry leaves
1 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala
A sprig of coriander leaves, finely chopped
Salt as required
Cashew nuts and raisins, as required
Ingredients to make gravy
1 onion, chopped
2-3 green chillies
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tomato, chopped
1 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp fennel powder
Salt as required
A sprig of curry leaves
A sprig of coriander leaves
Water, as required
Preparation
For the marinated chicken
Mix all the ingredients together
Smear it well on the chicken, both inside and outside
Marinate for about 30 minutes
For the stuffing
Heat some oil in a pan and add onion slices and green chillies
Sauté onion until it is light brown in colour
Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a few minutes
Add all of the ground masala (chilli powder, turmeric powder and garam masala)
Sauté until the raw smell of masala is gone
Add tomato, salt, cashew and raisin
Sauté until tomato is mashed
Carefully add the eggs and mix everything well
Sprinkle some coriander leaves and the filling is ready
For frying the chicken
Heat some oil in a pan and fry the chicken
Once it's seared on all the sides, cover the pan with a lid and lower the flame
Allow the inside of the chicken to cook well
Don't forget to turn the chicken occasionally
Once it's cooked thoroughly, remove from oil and carefully fill the cavity with the egg filling
To assemble
Heat some oil in a pan and sauté the onion and green chillies
Sauté until the onion turns light brown in colour
Add the ginger-garlic paste and mix everything together
Add all the ground masala together-chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and fennel seeds powdered
Sauté until the raw smell of masala is gone
Add tomatoes and then salt
Cook until it's mashed together
Add required water, to make the gravy
Allow everything to boil together
Carefully transfer the fried chicken to the gravy
Allow the chicken to cook inside the gravy for a few minutes
Garnish with some coriander leaves
Serve it hot with ghee Rice or pathiri
(The author is a food blogger who blogs at subyskitchen.com)
Notes
After cleaning the chicken, try to tie its legs together so that it stays together If there is leftover filling after filling the cavity, you can always add that to the gravy Instead of frying the chicken, you can always bake and in the final 10 minutes, just broil, so that it has that crispy texture
