Chicken stew for "appam"

Chicken stew

The white stew is the perfect accompaniment to the "appam", the chicken, mutton or egg stews being foremost on everyone's list. There are also mixed vegetable or plain potato stews. This is how I make a white chicken stew.

Serves 4 to 6 persons
Preparation and cooking time: 35 to 40 minutes

Ingredients

1. Chicken - 1/2 kg

2. Potatoes diced  - 1/4 cup

3. Onions or shallots sliced long - 1 cup

4. Ginger sliced thin and long like the onions - 3/4 tablespoon

5. Garlic sliced long - 3/4 tablespoon

6. Fresh green  and red chillies slit  - 4

7. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

8. Whole green cardamom - 3

9. Cloves - 3

10. Cinnamon sticks - 2 (half inch pieces)

11. Whole black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon

12. Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon

13. Oil - 2 tablespoons

14. Salt to taste

15. Thin coconut milk - 2 cups

16. Thick coconut milk - 1/2 cup

Method


1. In a pan or wok, heat the oil.


2. To the hot oil, add items numbered 8 to 12. Let the cardamoms pop.


3. Add the ginger, garlic, some chillies and onions in this order. Saute till onions turn pink.


4. Add the chicken, curry leaves from one sprig and potatoes. Saute for a minute.


5. Add salt and the thin coconut milk. There should be enough liquid to cover the chicken and potatoes. (So if needed, add some more water.)


6. When the chicken and the potatoes are cooked, add the thick coconut milk, the rest of the curry leaves and slit chillies. Adjust for seasoning. Give it one boil and take off the heat.


7. Serve hot with "appam"s.


Tips

The recipes for "appam" and vegetable stew are given below.

I prefer using instant coconut milk powder to make the milk.

Mutton or hard-boiled eggs may be substituted for chicken. Mutton needs to be cooked well for a longer time or separately in a pressure cooker. Hard boiled eggs may be halved or left whole and added in step 6.