Tambda Rassa and Sukha Chicken.

On a rainy night of the winter 'Tambda Rassa' gives you a reason to stay home and still be happy. This curry consists of 2 parts - Suka Chicken aka dry chicken ( without gravy) and Rassa aka very thin gravy..almost like flavored broth.

Without any more prelude here's the recipe. I have modified the original recipe to make it a little healthy but all due credit to Amruta and Ashish.

Ingredients.
1. Chicken - Breast + thighs.
2. 4-5 cloves.
3. One medium stick of Cinnamon.
4. 12-15 Peppercorn.
5. 1 cup Coriander seeds.
6.1 cup Sesame seeds.
7. 2 dry red chillies
8. 1 green chilly.
9. 2 cups of chopped fresh Coriander leaves.
10. 1 cup of dry coconut.
11. 1 cup of freshly grated coconut.
12. 3 big Onions.
13. 10 Garlic cloves.
14. 2 inch Ginger piece.
15. 2 Teaspoons of oil
16. 1 cup of yogurt.
17. 2 Teaspoons of Turmeric powder.
18. 4-5 Aniseed.
19. 3 Cardamom pods.
20 2-3 teaspoons of poppy seeds.

How to make.
1. Cut chicken in big chunks and clean it. In a pressure cooker cook chicken with turmeric powder and ginger.
2. Do not discard the broth. That would be used for Rassa.
3. Cut the bottom portion of the onion and give it some rough chops. Roast it in the oven at 375 degrees for 10 mins. All ovens are different so just keep an eye on the onion. We want it to be a little brownish on the outside and little mushy.
4. Roast together - Peppercorn, dry coconut, cloves, sesame seeds,coriander seeds, poppy seeds,aniseed,cardamom and keep aside to cool.
5. Roast freshly grated coconut just enough to remove the moisture.
6. When cooled grind together #3,#4 and #5 above with garlic and coriander. Do not add any water.
7. Chop one onion very finely. Heat oil in the pan and add onion with little bit of red chilly powder.
8. Once the onions are translucent, add half the mixture from #6 above and fry for 2 minutes.
9. To the onions, add the drained chicken pieces and fry for another 5-6 minutes. Remember, the chicken is already cooked so this step is just to spice it up. You would find that the breast pieces start falling apart. That's when you want to stop and add a little salt and pepper to taste.
10. Add the remaining mixture from #6 to the broth and start boiling. Adjust salt.
11. Once it start boiling, add the yogurt and boil again. This step is to make it little less spicy. If you are the one who likes to sweat eating hot stuff ; just skip this step :).
12. You have your suka chicken and Rassa ready. Enjoy is with plain roti and/or steam rice! YUM!!!