Xacuti

White poppy seeds and nutmeg go in with the toasted coconut.

Chicken. Not vegetarian — contains chicken.

Ingredients

• 1 kg chicken, jointed
• 100 g coconut, grated
• 3 tablespoons white poppy seeds
• 8 large dried red chillies
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1/4 nutmeg, grated
• a 4 cm stick of cinnamon
• 6 cloves
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 3 onions, sliced
• 8 cloves garlic
• a 4 cm piece of ginger
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 400 ml water

Method

1. WHITE POPPY SEEDS AND NUTMEG GO IN WITH THE TOASTED COCONUT. Its article calls the dish one of COMPLEX SPICING and then lists what that means, in order: WHITE POPPY SEEDS, sliced onions, TOASTED grated coconut, and LARGE DRIED RED CHILLIES -- and in its history, black peppercorns, chillies, turmeric, onions, NUTMEG, cinnamon and cloves, with lightly toasted coconut and white poppy seeds added to that. Nutmeg in a savoury curry is unusual anywhere on these pages, and the poppy seeds are doing what almonds or cashews do elsewhere: thickening it without dairy.
2. THE COCONUT IS LIGHTLY TOASTED, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SAYS TWICE. Lightly -- pale gold, five minutes, not the deep brown that belongs to the Kerala dishes here. Taken too far it dominates the nutmeg.
3. THE POPPY SEEDS ARE DRY-ROASTED AND GROUND WET. Two minutes until they pop, then ground with a little water to a smooth paste. Ground dry they stay gritty.
4. THE CHILLIES ARE THE LARGE DRIED KIND AND ARE NOT HOT. Its article specifies large dried red chillies. Eight of them is colour and body, not heat.
5. THE WHOLE SPICES ARE ROASTED SEPARATELY FROM THE COCONUT. Peppercorns, cinnamon and cloves take longer and the coconut burns while they are still raw.
6. THE NUTMEG IS GRATED IN AT THE END, NOT ROASTED. As with the Bisi Bele Bhath on these pages: roasted nutmeg goes bitter.
7. THE ONIONS ARE SLICED, NOT CHOPPED, AND FRIED BROWN. Its article says sliced. They go into the paste as well.
8. THE PASTE IS COOKED OUT IN THE OIL BEFORE ANY WATER. Five or six minutes until it darkens and the oil separates.
9. ITS ARTICLE NAMES FOUR MEATS AND THE ORIGINAL ONE. Crabs, chicken, lamb or beef -- and it records local fishermen serving the sauce with FRESHLY CAUGHT FISH, which is where it started.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes