Pepper Chicken Kuzhambu is a very simple south indian style chicken gravy… this is our home style gravy perfect for anyday anytime side dish for anything 🙂 Just too good with pipping hot idli, kal dosai, parotta, chapati, pulaos, biryani and even plain white rice.
Vegetarians…. can try this gravy with mushroom & green capsicum combo Yummo!
Some chicken gravy to try…
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
| 1 pound | Chicken (1/2 kg approx, cut into small pieces) |
| 2 cups | Onion (very finely minced) (sambar vengayam preferred) |
| 1 cup | Tomato (finely chopped or crushed) |
| 1 long | Green chilli (finely chopped) |
| 2 teaspoons | Ginger garlic paste |
| 10 leaves | Curry leaves |
| 3 tablespoons | Coriander leaves (chopped) |
| 1 big leaf | Bay leaf |
| 1 + 1/2 teaspoon | Cumin seeds (use 1/2 tsp for tempering) |
| 1/2 teaspoon | Fennel seeds |
| 2 small sticks | Cinnamon sticks (1/4 inch each) |
| 3 | Cloves |
| 1 | Cardamom |
| 1 teaspoon | Poppy seeds |
| 2 teaspoons | Red chilli powder (less spicy variety or kashmir chili) |
| 3 teaspoons | Corrainder/dhania powder |
| 1/2 teaspoon | Turmeric powder |
| 3 teaspoons | Black pepper powder (freshly ground preferred) |
| 1 teaspoon | Salt (or to taste) |
| 4 tablespoons | Oil |
| 1/2 cup | Water |
Lets see how to make this Pepper Chicken Kuzhambu
- Grind (1 teaspoon cumin seeds + 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds and 3 teaspoons black pepper + 2 small cinnamon sticks + 3 cloves + 1 cardamom + 1 tsp poppy seeds ) to make a fine powder. (All of these go raw and if you think 3 tsp black pepper is too much then reduce a little to suit your spice level) Keep this ready.
- Now, take a deep sauce pan , heat oil toast bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds and some curry leaves. Saute chopped onions & green chillies until golden brown.
- Add ginger garlic paste next and saute till the raw smell goes away.
- Followed by chopped tomatoes and cook till tender.
- Add in chicken pieces at this stage along with turmeric powder, red chilli powder, dhania powder, that black pepper masala mix and salt. Saute till it coats evenly and gets fried a bit.
- Add in little water, cover and cook for 20 minutes in very low flame. The chicken has to be cooked thoroughly and this time would be sufficient to cook all those with bones.
- Once you open the gravy will thicken, chicken will be cooked fully and the oil will separate on top.
- Keep simmering for few minutes, garnish with fresh curry and coriander leaves. Switch off and serve.
- Excellent side for paratha, hot idlis and kal dosais.
16 Comments
hi,
i made chicken pepper kuzhambu, but its too much spice , wat i should do?????????
Hi,
My Name is Mahendran i am from bangalore, based on ur details just prepared , i am waiting for the result, let my wife has come to home, then i ll give comment abt pepper chicken kuzhambu, thanks for ur help. just i am giving surprise to my wife today.
regards
Mahendran
Hi Mullai,
This is first time ever to try any recipe from your website and it was mindblowing.
My entire family rejoiced your Pepper chicken kulambu recipe. My lil one is 18 months old and she enjoyed every bit of the masala.
Thanks so much for the wonderful posting Mullai.
Roshni
dear mullai,
I did this receipe last sunday , it came out really well and i liked that pepper smell. as u told i grind that pepper ( i got from kolli hills) in mortar . it came out very well. i really enjoyed it. Thank you very much,.
Your recipe all really super …………..!!thanks alot
Tried out this recipe today & it came out well.
I have also tried the pepper chicken gravy a few weeks back & it was also good.
I think there is no failure when trying out mullai’s recipes.
Thanks a lot mullai.
thanks a lot for this receipe…
it came out very vell and its very delicious too..
I tried this recipe today and it came out really well.We had this for lunch with plain white rice and with parottas in the night.Was good with both..The only difference is mine came out in a dark brown colour compared to the picture.Thanks for the recipe..
hi mullai,
i am doing this receipe right now. but i was confused with the comments that u have given to nandhini is that this receipe has 3 tomatoes. but when i see the ingredients it says just 3 onions and 1 tomato. ususlly i read the comments and then start doing it. but today otherway round. but i have the confidence it will turn well. as i used to do the spicy mutton this way slight different.. its always been good.
Priyam,
I got it fixed, it has to be 3 tomatoes. Hope you finished it right, even then, it doesn't make much difference, its mainly added for gravy and can be adjusted. You can always add them at the final stage too, see that they are nice and ripe.
Hi Mullai,
Thankyou for your prompt reply. I added water, but maybe i boiled it for too long..i really dont know., i guess i need lots of practice!:)
Will keep trying out recipes from ur site & recommending it to all my friends n family.
Thanks so much.
Hi Mullai, I tried out this recipe today but it became dry and did not even resemble the kozhambu in the picture, but it tasted ok. Does it make a difference if you use white onions instead of red? Is it better to grind the onions?
(for all recipes not only for this)
Please let me know, Thanks in advance.
By the way the pics of all the recipes are excellent…feel like trying everything on ur site!
Nandini,
Did you add water???? There is no way for it to turn dry, as it has 3 tomatoes and 1/2 cup water which would give good gravy. Recipe doesn't say anything about grinding, but anyways, grinding raw onions and then frying might be a long procedure. Its OK for some recipes, take care to fry until you get away with the raw smell. Regarding onions, anything is ok, see that you buy light pink ones as dark red ones are really strong. Thanks for your feedback.
HI MULLAI,
I LIKE ALL THE DISHES IN YOUR WEBSITE.AND I TRY TO PREPARE TOO. AND TASTE IS SUPERB, U BELIEVE ME OR NOT I HAVE BECOME VERY GOOD COOK WHICH WAS WEAK POINT ONCE UPON ATIME. AND THID IS POSSIBLE BECOS OF U AND UR WEBSITE, THANKS A LOT.
I HAVE A DOUBT, I HAD PREPARED PEPPER CHICKEN CURRY CAME OUT VERY WELL. NOW AM SEEING PEPPER CHICKEN KUZHAMBU. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM?
Hai there
Kuzhambu is the gravy version with slight change in the ingredients. Curry is a semi-thick gravy or I would call it masala.
thanks a lot. and thanks for the good recipe’s.