Kori Roti (Chicken In Coconut Milk) - Mangalorean Bunt Style

Chicken is known as "Kori" in Tulu, a language spoken by Bunt community. "Roti" is made of rice to look like dry crisps. They are soaked in gravy before consuming. This dish is very popular in Mangalore, Udupi and surrounding areas and served at almost every restaurant in Coastal Karnataka. Back home, Amma always made it with grated fresh coconut. Coconut was ground for a few minutes to extract thick and thin coconut milk. Chicken was cooked with spices and thin milk. Thick coconut milk was added just before seasoning. Growing up we used to buy Roti from the local stores. I still go by Amma's recipe but in order to save time I use a can of coconut milk. Although, no one is a big fan of "Roti", I serve it with Shevai/jeera rice/white rice/roti/appam. These days "Kori Roti" masala is readily available at most stores in Coastal Karnataka. I do buy a few packets and save them for last minute dinner parties.

Ingredients:

3 lbs chicken, skinless (preferably with bone)
8 red chillies
6 cloves garlic
2" ginger
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
3/4 tsp methi seeds (fenugreek)
8 cloves
2"cinnamon
1/2 tsp haldi (turmeric)
1/2 tsp pepper corns
4 medium sized onions
marble sized tamarind
1 sprig curry leaves
1 can coconut milk

How it's made:

Clean, cut chicken into medium size pieces. In a little oil, roast one ingredient at a time- red chillies, coriander seeds, jeera, methi, cloves, cinnamon, pepper corns. Set aside. Chop one onion & fry it with chopped ginger & garlic. Combine roasted spices with onions/garlic, tamarind & grind to a fine paste.
In the meantime, cook chicken with 2 chopped onion & haldi. When half cooked, add ground masala paste. Cover & cook on medium high heat. Do not add water.
In a shallow pan, heat 2 tbsp oil. Add 1 finely chopped onion & curry leaves. Fry until golden brown.
To the cooked chicken, add a can of coconut milk. Adjust salt. Boil for 5 mins. Season with fried onion & curry leaves.
Curry tastes a lot better the next day.

Serves: 4-6