Chicken fry/kozhi varuval/kodi vepudu

 

This is my most favourite dish. In my home I was the only NV eater. When sunday comes I would go to the meat shop and buy 1/4 kg of chicken. My mom would prepare this for me. Beautiful days they are !!! I will grind the masala in 'ammi kal'. The smell of garlic and ginger ground together....simply awesome!!! So until today if I smell garlic and ginger only this dish flashes in my mind. The smell of garlic and ginger not only made me happy but also the cats in my home. They will also be eagerly waiting for sundays :). My mom would marinate the ground masala on the chicken and will wait for sometime. Even that time appeared  to me very long. And finally she would drop the marinated chicken pieces in hot oil. The smell of chicken being cooked  along with the smell of ginger and garlic will make me more and more hungry. I will be waiting with a plate near her. As soons as they are in my plate it takes just a few minutes to gulp them down with a dash of lime juice on their top. Now, things have changed. Knowledge (?) I have gained has made me health conscious (!!). Even if I prepare this dish,  now-a-days I cannot enjoy it with a guilt-free mind. The books and articles I have read always told me that deep fried food is bad for health. Hmmm....some simple joys of childhood can never be brought back :(.

This chicken fry is very simple and very aromatic. I can swear that this is the best chicken fry in the whole world :).

Ingredients :

Chicken- 1/2 kg

Ginger- 1 large piece ( a 2 '' pieces?)

Garlic- some 6 pods ( take them in amount equal to that of ginger pieces)

Chilli powder - 2 tspns (adjust according to your taste)

Green chillies- 2 nos (optional)

Turmeric- 1/4 tspn

Maida ( All purpose flour)- 1 tspn

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method : 

Grind together ginger, garlic, green chillies, chilli powder, turmeric, all pupose flour and salt to make a paste. If you use chicken legs make small slits on the chicken meat. Apply the ground paste as a thin coating to the chicken and marinate for one hour. Otherwise you can marinate the chicken pieces the previous day and store them in deep freezer. This helps the salt and masala to seep deep inside the pieces. Heat oil in a vessel. When the oil is hot enough drop the chicken pieces in oil. Fry until the chicken acquires a deep brown colour. Serve with raw onions and lime wedges.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : If the chicken pieces have fat sticking to them, they will burst when frying. Be very careful when you are near the hot oil. The above mentioned masala is more than enough to do the magic. Avoid adding any additional masala items. A very tasty snack. It makes a perfect combo with rasam sadham. Happy cooking !!!