Chicken Peratal is a dry South Indian curry that comes in a tonne of variations. I am sharing here my mother-in-law's basic dry curry recipe that you can tweak as you get more confident with cooking Indian food (not my time yet!)
I would have preferred a much darker or redder end product though - I hear that's just a matter of (1) browning the onions for longer (2) adding more red chili powder during cooking or (3) cooking the dish for longer to brown and thicken the sauce naturally.
I'll be sure to update this post once I give a go at this recipe again!
INGREDIENTS
For frying
1 whole kampong chicken, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 onion, sliced thinly
2 tomatoes, cut in quarters or smaller
1/2 cup water
1 cup hand torn cabbage skins
Salt to taste
For the spice paste (to be blended)
1/2 cup of almonds
2 inch ginger
1 onion
2 tablespoons chili powder
DIRECTIONS
1. Blend 1/2 cup of almonds with 2 inch ginger and 1 onion. Mix in 2 tablespoons of chili powder and salt and marinate the chicken pieces with this. Set aside until ready to cook.
2. In a pan, saute 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 3 cloves, 1 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick and 1 sliced onion until fragrant.
3. Add marinated chicken pieces and fry for 3-5 mins. Add 2 quartered tomatoes and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and stir occasionally for 15-20 mins or until chicken is cooked. Salt to taste.
4. Once chicken is cooked, add a cup of hand torn cabbage pieces and stir for 1 min until cabbage is soft but still crunchy.
ALY'S COOKING TIPS
1. Do not add too much almonds or the gravy will be grainy. The only purpose of the almonds is used to thicken the gravy so use sparingly.
2. Marinating the chicken with the spice paste creates a deeper flavour in the chicken. Optional but recommended for at least 10-15 min before frying.
3. Cabbage is a weird addition to the dish I KNOW but it will surprise you - that crunchy freshness in every bite adds something to the finished dish,