Author: Jane Jojo Updated on:
Chicken curry well flavored with roasted coconut and spices. This recipe is a Malabari delicacy. It goes well with pathiri, kerala porotta, any sort of rice variants (ghee rice, pulao, normal rice), chapathi, appam or any other Indian breads.
For more Kerala chicken recipes, check out:
Chicken curry without coconut
Chicken curry with coconut milk
Chicken Stew
Pepper chicken roast
Chicken tomato roast
Chicken biriyani
Chicken cutlet
Chicken fry
Ingredients
chicken
1 kilogram
Marination
salt
1 teaspoon
turmeric powder
3/4 teaspoon
chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon
lemon juice
1 tablespoon
Roasted Coconut Mix
grated coconut
1 cup
Shallots / Small onion
1/4 cup
fennel seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon
red chilli
8 number
Masala Gravy
onion (medium size)
2 number
garlic (crushed)
1 tablespoon
ginger (crushed)
1 tablespoon
turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon
coriander powder
1 1/2 tablespoon
chilli powder
1 teaspoon
garam masala
1 teaspoon
tomato (large)
1 number
curry leaves
3 sprig
Steps
- Marinate the cleaned chicken pieces with the ingredients listed under marination. Keep it aside for 30 minutes.
- Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan. Add sliced shallots. Saute well until soft and then add grated coconut, red chili, and fennel seeds. Saute well until coconut turns golden brown. Switch off the stove. Transfer the roasted coconut mix into the blender or mixi bowl. Let it cool. Then add water, grind well and make a fine smooth paste.
- Slice onion into very small pieces so that it would be easy for it to get mashed into the gravy while chicken gets cooked. Dice tomatoes into small pieces.
- Heat oil in a pan. Add sliced onion, curry leaves and salt. Adding salt helps the onion to get cooked fast. Saute them until onion is soft and turns light brown.
- Add ginger and garlic crushed or paste. Saute them well. Add extra oil as needed.
- Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and saute well. Add oil as needed to fry the masalas.
- Add diced tomatoes. Mix it well. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
- Once tomatoes are cooked, add marinated chicken pieces. Stir till the pieces are well coated with the masala. Cover and cook until chicken is done. It will take around 20 minutes.
- Add the coconut paste, 1 cup water and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until it boils. Adjust salt in the gravy. Boil till the gravy is up to the consistency desired.
- Serve it with pathiri, any sort of rice variants ( ghee rice, pulao, normal rice) and any Indian breads ?
Notes
- If you like to have more gravy, you can increase the quantity of grated coconut and spices proportionally.

Nutrition Facts
Kerala Chicken Curry with Roasted Coconut (Varutharacha Chicken Curry)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 280 Calories from Fat 189
% Daily Value*
Fat 21g32%
Saturated Fat 11g69%
Cholesterol 60mg20%
Sodium 458mg20%
Potassium 265mg8%
Carbohydrates 6g2%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 16g32%
Vitamin A 310IU6%
Vitamin C 25.1mg30%
Calcium 34mg3%
Iron 1.7mg9%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.