Madurai Chicken Curry - Kuzhambu South Indian Coconut Pepper Curry
Madurai chicken curry is a rich, spicy South Indian curry with a tomato base featuring flavors of fennel, black pepper, curry leaves, garlic, and ginger. You can adjust the spice as you like and try this incredible sauce with your protein of choice! Gluten-free with Nutfree and Soyfree options
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the Spice Mix
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder or use paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
- 2 teaspoons shredded coconut
For the Tofu
- 14 ounces firm or extra firm tofu pressed for at least 15 minutes then torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste or use 3 cloves garlic minced and 1/2 inch ginger minced
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch or tapioca starch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder or use paprika
For the Curry
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 1/4 cup chopped finely chopped red onion
- 8 curry leaves fresh, frozen, or dried are all fine
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste or 3 cloves of garlic, minced, and 1/2” of ginger, minced
- 1/2 cup chopped tomato
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups water or light coconut milk or a mix of the water and coconut milk or other non-dairy milk
- cilantro and lime juice for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° F (205° C).
Make the spice mix.
- Mix together all of the spices in a bowl and set aside. If your fennel seeds were whole, you can crush them or you can just chop them up using a knife, or put all of the spices along with the coconut in a spice grinder and pulse a few times to powder them and set aside.
Make the Baked Tofu “Chicken”
- Press the tofu, if you haven't already, then tear into bite-sized pieces and add to a bowl then along with the ginger garlic paste and oil. Toss well to coat.
- In a small bowl mix the cornstarch, salt, Kashmiri chili powder and 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons of the spice mix from above. Sprinkle this all over the tofu mixture, tossing well to coat. Spread the tofu on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until most of the tofu is starting to get slightly crisp on the edges.
- To cook the tofu in a skillet instead: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 teaspoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, add the tofu to the skillet and cook, flipping occasionally, until it is crisp on most of the edges. This can take anywhere from 6 to 8 minutes. Remove it from the skillet, and use the same pan to make the sauce.
Make the curry.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the curry leaves carefully and mix in. Once they stop spluttering, Add in the onion and a good pinch of salt and mix . Cook until the onion is golden. Add splashes of water in between to help the onions brown evenly and to help conduct the heat evenly, 6 to 9 minutes.
- Stir in the ginger garlic paste and the remaining spice mix, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the spices start to smell roasted and the garlic is cooked.
- Mix in the tomato and salt, then cook until the tomatoes are mushy. 5-7 mins. Press and mash some of the larger tomato pieces, then add in the coconut milk or water, mix in, and cover the skillet with a lid.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer for another 2 minutes, then carefully taste and adjust salt, flavor, and thickness. If you want more sauce, you can add in some more coconut milk, non-dairy milk, or water and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, lightly fold in the baked tofu, then switch off the heat and garnish with cilantro and lime juice. Serve with rice, South Indian parotta, naan, or dosa.
Video
Notes
This recipe is gluten-free and nut-free.
Variation: add 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin to the spice mix.
To make this soy-free, use chickpea flour tofu, pumpkin seed tofu, cooked chickpeas or white beans, or roasted vegetables instead of tofu. Marinate the vegetables or alternative tofus as in the recipe. If you're using chickpeas or beans, just skip the marination step and just them to the sauce and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes and then serve.
To make this without corn, use tapioca starch instead of cornstarch.
To store, refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to a month. Reheat in a skillet or a microwave.
Nutrition
Calories: 162kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 619mg | Potassium: 212mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 617IU | Vitamin C: 41mg | Calcium: 168mg | Iron: 2mg