Maldivian Chicken Curry

Although it’s been almost a week since I’m back to work, I still feel relaxed and in a holiday mood. The short vacation at Maldives last week was the most the most rejuvenating one I’ve ever had! Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean is truly a paradise on earth. The country consists of 1,192 islands out of which 192 are inhabited. These beautiful islands are quite small in size and the cool part is each resort occupies one whole island 🙂 Once we landed, it was an amazing 40 minute speed boat ride to the resort we stayed at.

Time had slowed down for us there and it was a week full of diving, snorkeling, lazing around and lots of food! There was no internet facility in our room and I guess that was the best part! Sometimes in order to enjoy nature at it’s best, you have to be totally detached from the outside world! 🙂

Maldivian cuisine closely resembles coastal Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine, and the recipes are quite spicy which is why I loved them even more! Almost all dishes include coconut in them which gives it a very coastal flavor and delectable to the palate. I liked the chicken curry the best and on our way back I didn’t miss to get the Maldivian curry powder from the airport 🙂

I prepared the curry in my own style, although I didn’t have to do much, the curry powder did most of the magic. The dish turned out to be the main attraction of the weekend lunch 🙂

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Cooking Oil – 3 tablespoons

Chicken – Around 1 kg, cut into medium sized pieces

Coconut – 2 to 3 tablespoons, grated

Onion – 2 medium, sliced

Potato – 2 medium, peeled and each cut into 4 halves

Ginger garlic paste – Around 1.5 tablespoons

Turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon

Maldivian curry powder – 2 tablespoons; you can find it in stores or you can also use Indian curry powder as a substitute. Alternatively, you can make it fresh at home by dry roasting together coriander powder, cumin powder, fennel powder, chili powder, cinnamon powder, ground pepper and cardamom seeds in equal parts.

Cardamoms seeds – 6

Red chili – 3, sliced horizontally

Water – 1 to 1.5 cups

Salt – to taste

Step 1: Heat oil in a pan. Add the cardamoms. Once they start to splutter, add the onions and the potatoes. Add the turmeric powder and mix well. Cook for around 2 minutes.

Step 2: Add the onions and ginger garlic paste and cook for around 3 more minutes. Add the red chili.

Step 3: Add the chicken and mix well with rest of the mixture. Follow by adding around 1.5 cups of water and let it cook for a few more minutes until the chicken is cooked and you have the desired consistency.

Step 4: Add the grated coconut and mix well. Add salt to taste. If the curry is too thick, add another half cup water and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until you have the desired thickness.

Step 5: Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve hot with rice or bread of your choice.

A few tips:

• You can add curry leaves to the dish as per your preference. Add the curry leaves at Step 1 along with the onions and ginger garlic paste.
• Instead of water, you can use coconut cream if you want to give a creamy texture to the curry.
• For the coconut, it is best if you can use freshly grated. Alternatively, you can get frozen ones from the store as well.

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