Cookery School: Sukha Chicken

This is not strictly a cookery school post, because I didn’t learn this dish standing at any culinary diva’s side. I jotted down the recipe over phone from my beautiful and talented cousin K, in whose kitchen I tasted it first.  The recipe is very forgiving – changing the proportions results in very different outcomes, but all outcomes are tasty.  In fact, it turned out entirely different the two times that I made it – the first time, it was almost a curry, while the second time it was very dry.  But in both its avatars, it was delicious – such is the wonderfully accommodating nature of the recipe.

In a perfect world, where the recipe is followed to the T, the final dish is ‘sukha chicken’ – dry chicken – with a lovely thick spice blend coating the tender pieces of chicken. The spice paste is a heady mix of cloves, cinnamon, pepper, cardamom, cumin, coriander, ginger, garlic, chilli – all bound together by the piquant punch of vinegar.  And the chicken is maryland pieces only (they don’t overcook easily like breast does), each large maryland cut into 2-3 smaller chunks.

But in the real world, you can vary and change ingredients and proportions to suit your palate, use a whole chicken or only drumsticks, or add some water/coconut milk to make it a curry.  The basic soul of the dish won’t change.  But I strongly recommend trying the basic recipe before trying variations – not just to master the recipe, but also because the original version is the tastiest of them all! :)

K’s incredibly tasty Sukha Chicken:

Ingredients:
1 kilo chicken – Maryland pieces, each cut into 2-3 smaller pieces

Spice Paste:

Black Peppercorns (Kali Mirch) – 6-7
Cardamom pods (Elaichi) – 2
Cumin (Jeera)– 1 teaspoon
Coriander seeds (Dhaniya) – 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon (Dalchini) – 2-3 pieces (1-inch long)
Caraway seeds (Shah Jeera) – 1 teaspoon
Poppy seeds (Khus-khus) – 1 – 1.5 tablespoons
Turmeric Powder – 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder – 1-2 teaspoons (to taste)
Dry coconut, grated – 1-1.5 heaped tablespoons
Fresh Ginger – 2-inch long piece
Garlic – 20 cloves, peeled
Vinegar – 1-2 tablespoons (enough to bind everything together into a thick paste)

Oil – 1-2 tablespoons

Method:

Blend all except the last 4 ingredients of the spice paste in the spice grinder/coffee grinder of your mixie, till a coarse powder is formed.

Add the grated coconut, ginger, garlic (chopped) and vinegar and whiz till a smooth paste is formed. As soon as you open the lid of the grinder, the most intoxicating aroma should greet your nostrils.

Adjust the seasoning and keep aside.

Score the chicken, especially the thick chunks, so that it absorbs the marinade better. Rub the spice paste onto the chicken (there should be a generous coating of paste over every piece, with some left over).  Cover the chicken, and dunk it in the fridge for 2-3 hours.

In a large non-stick kadhai or wok, heat the oil and swirl it around. Add the marinated chicken pieces and leftover marinade.

Give it a good stir, cover with a lid, and cook for 20-30 minutes, till the chicken’s cooked through.  Stir occasionally to prevent the marinade from sticking to the pan and burning, though a good non-stick wok will minimize the chances of this happening. DO NOT ADD WATER AT ANY POINT.

After 20-25 minutes, the chicken will be ready, and your entire house will be filled with a glorious, heady, spicy, tangy scent.  Garnish with fresh coriander leaves, and serve piping hot.

The leftovers (if any) will be doubly delicious, as the spice will have had more time to permeate the chicken.  Enjoy!