Kori Gassi (Mangalorean Chicken Curry)

I was originally planning on seeking out skinless, boneless chicken breasts at the grocery store on Monday to make a Cook's Country recipe. But when I saw that they had skinless, bone-in breasts available, I decided to rework my meal plan a bit to incorporate them.

This recipe is actually written for a whole, skinned, jointed chicken. And that also would have been delicious. But that requires me to skin and cut up a whole chicken. Which, while not a hugely onerous job, does add to the overhead of making the curry. So whenever I see skinless, bone-in chicken available (especially breasts since they're a nice low-fat option), I tend to jump on it.

If you're trying to watch your weight/fat intake, opt for "lite" coconut milk, chicken breasts, and use half the amount of oil called for here. (I did all of these things and still got a delicious curry out of it!)

Also, as per TF's complaint that the per-bite sauce:chicken ratio suffers with bone-in cuts: It might be interesting to experiment with using skinless, boneless chicken for this curry in the future. I suspect that cooking chunks of chicken for a shorter amount of time would work just as well. You might lose a little flavour due to the lack of bones simmering in the sauce. But it would be easier to eat... Possibly something to consider if I'm ever making this again.

Kori Gassi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. unsweetened dried coconut
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1 Tbsp. white poppy seeds
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. fenugreek seeds
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns
• 4-6 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 7 tsp. oil, divided
• 1 large onion (or 1 1/2 medium onions), halved and sliced
• 6 large cloves garlic (or 9-12 smaller cloves), chopped
• 1/2 c. water, divided
• ~1.5kg skinless, bone-in chicken pieces
• 1 c. coconut milk
• 1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 15 fresh curry leaves

Directions

1. Combine coconut, coriander, poppy seeds, mustard, fenugreek, peppercorns, and chilies in a bowl.
2. Add 1 tsp. of the oil and mix to coat.
3. Heat a pan over medium-high heat and add the oiled spices.
4. Cook, stirring frequently, until coconut is reddish-brown (~2 minutes).
5. Transfer spices to blender jar.
6. Add remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil to the hot pan.
7. Reduce heat to medium and add the onions and garlic.
8. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for ~20 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, pour 1/4 c. of the water into the blender with the spices and purée into a gritty paste.
10. With the blender running, drizzle in the remaining 1/4 c. of water and set aside.
11. Once the onion and garlic are nicely browned, push them to the sides of the pan and add the chicken pieces, meat-side-down.
12. Scoop the onion and garlic onto the chicken and cook for 5-7 minutes per side.
13. Transfer the chicken to a plate and pour the spice paste into the centre of the pan.
14. Pour the coconut milk into the blender, use it the swish out the jar, and then add it to the pan.
15. Stir in the tamarind, salt, and curry leaves and mix well.
16. Return the chicken to the pan, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low.
17. Cook, turning and basting every few minutes, until chicken is cooked through (~20 minutes).
18. Transfer chicken to a serving platter.
19. Increase heat to medium and vigorously simmer sauce until slightly thickened (~5 minutes).
20. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.