Spicy Chicken Fry – Andhra style

I’ve always found this Andhra style hot & spicy chicken fry to be very flavorful, and a cozy dish for winters.  Known for its sizzling items, full of flavor, Andhra cuisine is like none other.  It’s so good.

Some of the hottest and spiciest food from South India, they say, is from Andhra Pradesh.  I personally haven’t had any spicy food that I can’t handle, but for most, this would be pretty spicy, but not quite unbearable. Chicken Fry is a staple in many homes, and everyone has their favorites.  Mine has to be my mom’s style pepper chicken, which is my little one’s favorite too.  This Spicy Chicken fry is inspired by the cuisine of Andhra, and quickly, our pepper chicken had some competition.

HOW TO GET YOUR KID TO ENJOY FOOD

Eating food has to be a lovely enjoyable experience, not a dreaded one.

I share my everyday food on Instagram, and I often show the lunches that they take to school.  Few commonly asked questions that I get from many on Instagram is: How do my kids handle hot food? Are mine just fussy eaters?  How did you train your kids to not be fussy eaters?

I have always tried to keep it real on this blog, and the reality is, it’s hard work to get the kids to enjoy mealtime and not fear it.  Would you believe me if I said my now teen, when he was a year or two old, would not eat anything? He was probably the pickiest, slowest, and fussiest eater ever (at least to me).  Mealtime was a chore for the both of us, as well as anyone around us.  I didn’t like force-feeding, and he surely didn’t like being force-fed. His head turns while feeding him made me angry. I remember giving him ragi porridge with a pad of butter and he would literally struggle to eat it.  He took an hour to drink his milk.  I don’t know if it’s an Indian thing, but I would often get questions like, oh he’s so skinny, oh he’s lost weight, oh he looks so frail… it bothered me to the core.  I would ask myself, when did he even have that much weight to lose?

People didn’t seem to understand that their remarks would get to me. It just made the feeding situation more difficult.  Now, I understand we should be worrying about what is inside rather than the number on the scale.  Being healthy, rather than just looks.

One day, when my little boy was 22 months, my hubby read a book by Dr Spock. Hubby never believed in force-feeding. He read the book in detail.  And he was determined to change things with the feeding. We had to change/do a few things to see a difference in his eating behavior.

1.  Do not hand feed your child
2.  Don’t force feed
3. Eat together on the dining table with the child.  Serve the food like we do for all and keep the plate in front of the kid too.
4. Enjoy your meal, not focusing on how your kid is doing.  If he/she was not touching the food, it was OK.  You can gently remind him/her to eat. Don’t make a big fuss.
5. When you all have finished your meal, see if your little needs help eating.  If not, don’t feed.  Take away the plate.  If he/she wants to eat, leave the plate for another 10 minutes before taking the plate away.
6. Do this consistently at least for 10 days.
7. Do not give them any filler food and unnecessary snacks.  It has to be mealtime food.

Day 1: With dread, we started the process on a cold December day when hubby was home on vacation.  I was not strong enough.  No mom is.  I remember the first meal, my hubby took away because he turned his face away from eating.  I cried.  I argued with the husband.  He said, “Go inside the room, I’ll manage.”  The little one was more adamant than we thought he was.  He drank four cups of water, which we made sure he had.  He did not touch any solid meal.

Day 2: He had a couple of ounces of milk and was very happy that he didn’t have to eat. He was full of energy and happiness, and excited to just drink water.  No food.

Day 3:  He looked tired, but was still going strong.  He drank his water and his morning milk without a fuss, and yet again, no food.

Day 4:  I was ready to give up.  I couldn’t bear to see his little cherry cheeks go inside.  He looked even skinnier than his skinny self.  His pants were almost falling off.  I layered him up so he looked at least a little fluffy. No food.

Day 5:  We had friends come home, and they were so sad to see him skinny, and not his peppy self.  They looked at both of us with condescension, like we were pathetic to do that to a little child.  Still no food, no play, and no milk either.  I think this was the worst day for me as a mum.

Day 6:  He woke up showing the refrigerator, as he wanted milk.  Now that was huge.  I didn’t give him anything else in between meals. He sat down with us at the table and nibbled on his waffles and egg without a single word.  Hubby and I looked at each other, questioning if it was real.  Would it continue?

Day 7: Under the blue and bright sky, I woke up with a big smile, looking forward to the day.  I cuddled with the little boy for a while before I went into the kitchen to make him some milk.  I wasn’t anxious as I used to be.  I felt relaxed. The little boy looked relaxed.  I prayed and gave him a glass of milk to drink, and he happily gulped it down.  We stepped out for lunch, and he happily had his pasta.  I thought that maybe he just liked that pasta more than normal, still skeptical that he had changed.  Dinner time came, and it was like the sky erupted in a display of shooting stars.  He finished his meal in ten minutes and smiled ear to ear.

Fast forward fifteen years, and he sees meal time like a beautiful ritual. I started getting the kids in the kitchen when they were young.  They picked out the vegetables that they liked.  And I would pick one new one which they didn’t like, and they would help me cook.  Looking at food in a different way HELPED.   He became a complete foodie. He enjoys cooking, eating, and feeding people. And eating. It was not about him enjoying spicy food, it was not about him enjoying Indian food, it was about him enjoying food.  He still turns his nose up to papaya and cucumber, and I’ll take that.

When you change your attitude, the rest changes on its own.  There’s a paradigm shift.

Always remember, each situation is different, each kid is different.  Tailor everything to the needs of you and your kids. I am not a specialist, so do your own research.  Mainly, don’t bother listening to what everyone around you says.  Don’t stress.  Kids are smart, they won’t starve. This worked for me and it was life-changing.

Now food is a spiritual experience, exactly how it should be.  Like how testing and trial and error works for blogs, life is just like that.

This is a spicy chicken dry fry that we enjoy at home.  Most of the dishes do begin with ginger garlic, onion, and tomato. The combinations make a subtle but noticeable difference.

This dish has three aspects that lend to the heat.  The green chilies, the chili powder, and the pepper that we use in the end.  All the three peppers have different nuances and notes.  One adds color, while one has an intense heat in the back of the throat.  The final one hits the tongue the moment you eat it.  Note that each one is also used at different stages, which is important.

Don’t add water to this dish at all. The liquid from the chicken and the yogurt is enough to coat the chicken with some sauce.  Try not to skimp on the oil, which is also important to balance all the heat and get the dark color that this chicken is famous for.

Add more or less of chilies as you like, but this definitely is not for the faint of heart.  It’s a party in the mouth, like the boys call it.

Enjoy!!

5.0 from 6 reviews

Andhra Chicken Fry

 

Print

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

I've always found this Andhra style hot & spicy chicken fry to be very flavorful, and a cozy dish for winters. Known for its sizzling items, full of flavor, Andhra cuisine is like none other. It's so good

Author: Ash

Recipe type: Curry

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 4

Ingredients

To marinate:

• 1 whole chicken, cut to 3-4 inch pieces about 3-4 pounds chicken, bone in.
• 3 tbsp thick sour yogurt
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• ½ tsp salt

To grind:

• 1 inch ginger, peeled
• 8 cloves garlic, peeled
• 4-6 green thai chilies, depending on how hot you want it

To powder, toast and powder

• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp crushed black pepper

To saute and cook

• 3 tbsp oil +2 tbsp oil
• 10 curry leaves
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 2 inches ginger, peeled and very thinly sliced
• ½ tsp garam masala powder
• Salt

To garnish

• finely chopped cilantro
• 10 cashews

Instructions

1. Wash the chicken very well and drain it and pat dry.
2. In a mixing bowl, add the chicken, yogurt, turmeric powder, chili powder, ½ tsp salt. Mix well and let it marinate for 30 minutes.
3. Grind the ginger, garlic and green chilies to a a coarse paste, without water.
4. Toast the fennel and pepper powder in a non stick pan on low heat until you smell the spices and it toasts a bit. Do not burn it. Take it out and coarsely crush it.
5. In a large, heavy bottomed pan add oil and keep the heat on medium heat. Add the cumin and let it brown, add the ginger-garlic-chili paste, and fry for 30 seconds before adding the onion and saute it for a minute or until it is softened. Add the tomatoes and fry for a minute. Add the marinated chicken and toss it very well. Let it come to come to a bubble for about 5 minutes. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. DO NOT ADD WATER.
6. After 15 minutes, take off the lid and turn the heat on to HIGH. Uncover and let it dry out. After about 5 minutes, add the thinly sliced ginger and 2 tbsp of oil and garam masala and keep sauteeing and let it dry for another 10 minutes. The chicken will be cooked by now. Turn off the heat and add the toasted fennel and pepper powder, cilantro and cashew.

Serve hot with rice and daal.

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