Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Chicken Varuval


Have you try taking pictures on a gloomy day? I choose the wrong day to cook this dish but I already marinate the chicken the night before so I have no choice but cook it. I took over 50 shots of this dish but only a handful turns out decent. The rest, dark, blur, out of focus and etc.

Anyway, this is a must order dish for me if I eat at the Nasi Kandar or Indian Rice stall in Malaysia. I just love the taste of this flavorful dish. I’ve been cooking this dish so many times, and each time I tweak the recipe and came up with this. Finally I think I nail the taste of it. I hope you try this out, as I am pretty sure you are going to like it too.



Ingredients:

Half chicken – skin, fats removed and cut into bite size pieces
10 dried chilies – cut into half, remove the seeds and soak in water for 10 min
2 sprig curry leaves
3 shallots – sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic - chopped
2 tbsp chili powder
3 cardamom pot
2” cinnamon sticks
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste


Marinate:

1 tbsp grated ginger
2 clove garlic – finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp meat curry powder
½ tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp salt


1. Clean the chicken and pat it dry. Combined marinate ingredients and add it to the chicken. Mix really well and set it in the fridge to marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
2. Heat up some oil over medium heat, fried the chicken until golden brown (I pan fried it instead of deep frying) Remove from oil and set it aside.
3. Remove most of the oil from the frying pan; leave about 2 tbsp of oil. Add the shallots and garlic. Stir fry until fragrant and lightly brown. Add in the curry leaves, dried chilies, cardamom pot and cinnamon stick. Continue to stir fry until fragrant.
4. Add in the chili powder; toast the chilies powder in the oil for a few seconds. Add salt and sugar and finally add in the chicken. Continue to turn and toss until chicken coated with all the aromatic. If it is too dry, add in 1 or 2 tbsp of water. Finally add in the black pepper. Mix well.
5. Dish out and serve with rice.

I am submitting this dish to to Muhibbah Malaysian Monday roundup, created and hosted by Sharon of Test with a Skewer and Suresh of 3 Hungry Tummies.

23 comments:

FiSh said...

i love something spicy to tickle on my taste buds :) thanks for sharing!

Latest: The Pork Way to Go

WendyinKK said...

My type of chicken!

K.Nor said...

nor copy & save resipi dulu ya.. pasti try this dish one day .. tq :)

My Little Space said...

Wow, 50 shots! That must be so tiring & frustrating, right! However, glad at least that you found some nice one. This chicken sounds pretty interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Hope you're having a great week ahead. Chilled down! :o)
Blessings
Kristy

Elin Chia said...

Happy Birthday dear Gertrude ! hugs and muax :) Have a great one with Carlos. This chicken dish is what I have looking for. I have to cook this for Wild Boar. He loves it and you have make it so simple for me. I dont have to search high and low for the recipe. Thank you and have a great day !

Puan Ros @ Sinaranmenu.blogspot said...

this varuval remind me of nasi daun pisang..hungry la..

Finla said...

Just looking at it makes me drool and reminds me of home.

Elvira said...

this looks amazing!!!!

ann low said...

This is my type of chicken too. Bookmarking it and hopefully I can try this soon.

Shereen said...

That look absolutely delicious.I will definately try this when it's calmer ( hehe ) here. What rice did you pair this chicken dish with?It look so stunning...recipe please:)

love cooking said...

It looks delicious. But probably I need to reduce the chilies, it seem too spicy for me. Serve with turmeric rice would be perfect. :)

Noob Cook said...

the photos you featured turn out really good. love this savoury dish, it will go really well with steamed rice :)

lena said...

gert, same for me too, it's terrible shooting pictures on a gloomy day..using my camera! everything will turn out dark! i've yet to cook anything using cardamon pod..your dish looks good!

mycookinghut said...

Looks really good. It's making me all hungry now. Time to have lunch, wish I could have this!

Yoong said...

A big yes from me!

ICook4Fun said...

Fish, you are welcome.

Wendy, mine too :)

Nor, I hope you like it.

Kristy, Yea I am crazy, I normally take lots of shots as you know not all turn out good.

Elin, thank you so much. I like dishes like this. I normally cook a little bit more so I can have it for a few days.

Puan Ros, mmmmmm I miss nasi duan pisang too.

Happy Cook, me too :)

ICook4Fun said...

Elvira, thanks.

Ann, thanks for stopping by. I hope you are doing well. I am going to miss reading your blog :(

Shereen, how is Roxie doing? That is savory rice. I just put some spices like cardamon, bunga cengkih, halia and garlic in it. Also some cube carrots and spring onion.

Love Cooking, you can always reduce the level of spiciness to your liking.

Noobcook, that is just a few good ones :)

Lena,sometimes the weather here at the Bay Area is so unpredictable. Always on the overcast side. So have to time myself real well on when to cook.

Leemei, come over for lunch and I will cook for you :)

Yoong, :)

Vicky @ UrsineCuisine said...

This looks gorgeous. Thank you for posting. Photography can be so difficult sometime - but the finished photos look great!

shaz said...

Looks so delicious and you are so dedicated..50 shots!

Please don't be sad, why don't you send these entries to Shannon (who is hosting the latest MMM, details on my blog). I'm sure we can add you in for the July round-up. No worries :) Thanks so much for supporting us!

x
Shaz

Shannon @ JustAsDelish said...

Even though it's a gloomy day, I was drooling all over the photos and almost rush out to Nasi Kandar stall. I have taken this dish many times without even knowing the dish name :D
Thanks for supporting MMM!

Luv2Cook said...

Been craving the spicy banana leaf restaurant type chicken and found your recipe. It was delicious! I served it with rice, yellow dal, and spicy pumpkin. Just what I was wanting!

Unknown said...

This reminds me of the uncle that sell banana leaf food in Ipoh Stadium...superb!

Tremayne J said...

This chicken varuval recipe is the real deal. Taste great the only thing super spicy.