Whole Spices for a Kerala Chicken Curry

A Kerala nadan chicken curry usually starts with cinnamon or cassia, cloves, green cardamom, fennel seeds and black peppercorns fried in coconut oil, with star anise and bay leaf as optional extras. For 1 kg of chicken, a 3 to 4 cm piece of cinnamon, 4 to 5 cloves and 3 to 4 cardamom pods are enough.

The whole spices, for 1 kg of chicken

• Cinnamon or cassia (karuvappatta): 1 piece, 3 to 4 cm
• Cloves (grampu): 4 to 5
• Green cardamom (elakka): 3 to 4 pods, lightly cracked
• Fennel seeds (perumjeerakam): ½ teaspoon
• Black peppercorns (kurumulaku): ½ teaspoon, or crush them and add near the end
• Star anise: 1, optional
• Bay leaf: 1, optional

The rest of the curry

• 1 kg chicken, curry-cut, with bone
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 3 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon each of crushed ginger and garlic
• 2 to 3 green chillies, slit
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1½ teaspoons Kashmiri chilli powder
• 2 tablespoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 cup thin coconut milk and ½ cup thick coconut milk (or 1½ cups water for a no-coconut version)
• Salt to taste

Method, step by step

1. Heat the oil. Warm the coconut oil in a heavy pan or manchatti (clay pot) over medium heat until it shimmers.
2. Fry the whole spices, about 30 seconds. They should sizzle straight away. Stop when the cardamom puffs a little and the kitchen smells of cloves.
3. Onions, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the onions and a pinch of salt. Fry, stirring often, until deep golden.
4. Aromatics, 2 minutes. Add ginger, garlic, green chillies and half the curry leaves.
5. Powders, 1 to 2 minutes on low heat. Add turmeric, chilli and coriander powder with a splash of water so they don't scorch. Then add the tomato and cook until soft.
6. Chicken, 25 minutes. Add the chicken and salt, stir for 5 minutes to coat, then pour in the thin coconut milk. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes, until cooked through.
7. Finish. Stir in the garam masala and thick coconut milk, heat gently for 2 minutes without boiling, and add the remaining curry leaves.

Why the whole spices go in first

Many of the aroma compounds in cardamom, cloves and cinnamon dissolve more readily in fat than in water. A short fry in hot oil draws them out, and the flavoured oil then carries them through the onions, masala and gravy. Ground spices added at that stage would burn in seconds. Whole ones release slowly.

If you'd like to understand this better, our post on why cooks use whole spices goes into more detail.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

• Burning the spices. Burnt cloves and cinnamon turn bitter. If they go black, start again. It only costs a spoon of oil.
• Oil too cool. If the spices just sit there without sizzling, wait a little longer before adding them.
• Too many cloves. Five is plenty for a family-sized curry. More makes it taste medicinal.
• Rushing the onions. Pale onions give a thin, sweet gravy. Golden-brown onions give the colour and body a nadan curry needs.
• Boiling thick coconut milk. It can split. Add it at the end and keep the heat low.
• Stale cardamom. Pale, dry pods add very little. Fresh ones make a noticeable difference.

Variations

• Drier, darker curry: skip the coconut milk, use less water, and cook uncovered at the end. You're then close to Kerala pepper chicken.
• Homemade masala: swap shop-bought garam masala for our Kerala garam masala recipe.
• Final tempering: fry sliced shallots and curry leaves in a spoon of coconut oil and pour over the curry just before serving.

The core whole spices come together in our Kerala cardamom, pepper and clove combo, and you can add cassia sticks for the cinnamon.