Seeraga chicken fry uses garlic and cumin seeds for flavour. Seeragam is Tamil for cumin.

Ingredients: (If you cannot find any item in the supermarket, head for the Indian store.)

  • Chicken- 500g, cut into small pieces
  • Coconut oil- 1.5 tblsp
  • Sesame oil (gingelly oil)- 1 tblsp
  • Onion (preferably of the red variety)- 1 medium, chopped
  • Chillies- 2 each slit in two, depends on the amount of heat you can take
  • garlic- 5 large garlic cloves, you really need a lot of this stuff
  • Seeragam powder (Cumin, Jeera)- 1.5 heaped tsp, remember that this is the key ingredient, other than the chicken, that is.
  • Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
  • Chilli powder- 1.5 tsp, depends on the amount of heat you can take
  • Lime juice- 1 tsp
  • Desiccated coconut- 1 tblsp
  • Pepper- 1/2 tsp
  • Salt to taste

Method

  1. Heat the coconut oil in a pan.
  2. Add the garlic and fry till golden brown.
  3. Add the seeragam powder and fry slightly.
  4. Add onions and chillies and fry for three minutes.
  5. Add the chicken pieces and fry till the meat is sealed.
  6. Push the meat away from the center and heat the sesame oil before mixing it with the meat.
  7. Add salt and chilli powder.
  8. Cover and allow to cook for 15 minutes at a suitable temperature, ensuring that the chicken does not stick and burn at the bottom.
  9. Taste for salt and add more if needed.
  10. Add lime juice, desiccated coconut, and pepper and fry for 5 or 10 minutes more.

Serve the seeraga chicken fry when it is hot as a side dish. To my mind’s tastebuds, when the side dish is seeraga chicken fry, rice should be served with one or more of the following: dal, rasam, sambar, vatha kuzhambu, more-kuzhambu, yoghurt