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Ruchik Randhap

Food & Memories of Mangalore

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Kori Aajadina/Chicken Sukka (Chicken in a Spicy Dry Coconut Masala)


 

One of the most popular Mangalorean dishes is the Chicken Sukka – it is probably made by all the communities in Mangalore in varied in degrees of spiciness. The spiciest I believe is made by the Bunt community famous for their delicious spicy food. Chicken Sukka is a dry dish made with a beautiful blend of spices and coconut. The authentic way of preparing this ofcourse involves the effort of dry roasting the spices, grinding them to a paste and grinding the coconut to a very coarse paste and allowing the Chicken to cook in this spicy mixture. However, the easier & quicker version was what my mother followed – by using the very versatile Bafat Powder instead of grinding individual spices to arrive at the masala. 

 

As far as I can recall, Chicken Sukka was one of the standard items on a Catholic wedding menu. Unlike its home made version, the one prepared in large quantities by caterers always had large chunks of Chicken some of it not very tender and it was a big challenge to bite into the pieces with a plate in one’s hand and all the wedding finery that was at risk of being botched up by the splattering curry. Anyways, that did not matter much when I was kid as the joy of attending a wedding was in the fact that we would get to eat grand food. Today, we make most of these items at home so attending weddings has become a bore unless it is a close family affair.
This particular preparation brought back so many memories as the fragrance was so much like the Chicken Sukka prepared for weddings when I was little.

 

Chicken Sukka smells divine with so many spices and roasted coconut that go into it and tastes awesome whether you eat it with Brown Rice, Neer Dosa, Dosa or Chapathi. This particular verision is made by Bunts, however, I will shortly post the recipes as the Protestants and Catholics make it.

Kori Aajadina

Adapted from: Cherie’s Stolen Recipes
You Need:

  • 1 kg chicken
  • 1 onion chopped
  • salt to taste
For the masala
  • 1/2 tsp poppy seeds (khus-khus)
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 3-4 cloves
  • 1 medium size onion finely sliced
  • 1/2 tsp  turmeric
  • 3 cloves of crushed garlic with skin
  • 7 long red chillies (Bedgi) * see note
  • 7 short red chillies (Harekala)* see note
  • 1-1/2 tbsp coriander seeds (dhania)
  • 10 peppercorns (kali mirch)
  • 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi)
  • pinch of cumin seeds (jeera)
  • marble size ball of tamarind or 1 tbsp tamarind paste
For the garnishing
  • 1 cup grated coconut
  • 3 cloves of garlic with skin
  • 1/4 tsp cumin

For the seasoning/tempering/fon/bagar/tadka

  • 1 medium size onion finely sliced
  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • 1/2 inch cinnamon

Method:

1. Cut the Chicken into medium size pieces, wash and drain.
2. Heat a tawa/griddle and dry roast the poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves, sliced onion, garlic and turmeric – roast it till the onions turn pale. Add red chillies, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, peppercorns and tamarind one after the other and toss. Allow to cool and then grind all these ingredients to a fine paste.
3. Place the chicken in a large pan/wok and add salt to taste, 1 chopped onion and 3/4th of the ground masala. Allow to cook on medium slow flame – there is no need to add water as the chicken with leave its stock.
4. On a tawa/griddle dry roast the coconut, 3 cloves of garlic and cumin on a slow flame for about 2-3 minutes till you get a nice fragrance of roasted coconut. Do not wait for it to brown. Allow to cool and grind it along with the remaining masala (which was retained) to a coarse consistency. Add it to the almost cooked chicken.
5. For the tempering, heat ghee in a smaller pan and fry the onions till golden brown, toss in the cinnamon and add this seasoning to the Chicken.
6. Turn off the flame and serve hot with rice or chapathisNotes:
The Harekala variety of chillies is higher on the spice meter as compared to the Bedgi variety. The Kashmiri chilli is the least spicy among all, but gives a lovely red colour to the curry. Pls use the kind of chillies as available to you. Use spicy chillies moderately if you prefer it less spicy. For this recipe I used a blend of Bedgi & Kashmiri chillies as I like moderately spicy food.

 


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Comments

  3. Charishma says

    love ur photography shireen, its so simple,no props around…..its just about the dish.lovely….i want to have chicken sukka ,,,going to make it tmrw:)
    charishma

    Reply

  9. Prathima Rao says

    Looks just like the authentic version…Too yummm… Even for a veggie like me 😉 So that we are not left behond..we do make veg versions of these mlore specialties..Loke paneer ghee roast or mushroom sukka..And for that we too follow ur mom1s recipe..By grinding bafat powder with some coconut & then add to the mushrooms!! Bookmarked this one Shireen..:))
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

    Reply

  10. Prathima Rao says

    Btw Shireen..I have a recipe request..Its another popular mlore specialty called karipatta..that is chi or veg in currly leaves flavored masala..Looks similar to sukka or ghee roast & tatses just as good!! Had it at Deepa Comforts once & loved it!!
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

    Reply

  11. Shireen Sequeira says

    Thanks all for your lovely comments..will respond to you individually once im back from my vacation
    @Prathima: thanks dear 🙂 i will definitely hunt for the karipatta recipe for u…havent heard of it or tasted it..but hopefully on my next trip to Mlore, i must try it!

    Reply

  12. Ramya says

    I have spent 7 yrs in bangalore, though I'm a keralite. Most of my kerala friends like Mangalore cuisine, maybe coz we have lots in common like the love for coconut 🙂

    Reply

  13. Spicie Foodie says

    Your descriptions and photos made my mouth water. This is a new dish to me and one I can't wait to try.
    Thank you for your comment on my blog. I am so sorry you lost yours so close together. Thanks for understanding what I wrote.

    Reply

  14. Ramya says

    I made this today and it was too good…thanks for the awesome recipe..it was a little time consuming than i expected, but it is worth all the effort…served with neer dosa…yummy combo..Watch my blog, I would post soon.

    Reply

  17. Shireen Sequeira says

    Thanks everyone for your lovely comments!! Thanks Ramya for having tried it!

    @Anonymous:Yes you can substitute the ground masala with bafat powder (as I have mentioned in the first para of my narration/introduction). You can add 2-3 tsp (or as per taste) for 1 kg of chicken, however, the taste may differ slightly as the above recipe has fenugreek & poppy seeds which are absent in the bafat masala. Good luck! Do let me know how it turns out!

    Reply

  22. Shireen Sequeira says

    @ Anonymous: You can completely skip the poppy seeds as only 1/2 tsp is required. Alternatively a few (4-5) cashewnuts can be used – cashewnuts or sesame seeds are the most common replacements for poppy seeds (although I have never tried sesame seeds – cashewnuts work well)

    Reply

  23. Anonymous says

    My son called from university and said mom make sukha chicken, so said to myself why not do Shireen's recipe and here I am wuth another receipe of yours in my hat, will let you know after the weekend what were his comments until then….thanks Anita

    Reply

  25. sheetal k says

    Hello shireen once again thanks I must share this with you that Same ingredient same masala i prepared for crab and it just wonderful. My husband reaction was it is just tawa fry crab. lovely test lovely recipe. Thanks for all this.

    Reply

  27. Jitesh Banjan says

    I think I am the first guy to comment here.. 🙂
    I tried this dish at home and it was delicious..
    My friends were impressed that I cook so nice. All thanks to your recipe.. V/

    Reply

  28. Riya says

    I have to thank you for this recipie, my husband loved it so much that he stopped ordering it from hotel, he prefers this at home.thank you.

    Reply

  30. Nina says

    I just made a batch of this recipe. For 1 kg boneless, skinless chicken, used 2 tbsp of bafat powder, unsweetened coconut. The whole process took less than an hour. I used a wok and frying pan.
    Came out delicious. Thank you!
    Want to add a picture, let me see if I can figure it out.
    Thanks Shireen! Love your website:j

    Reply

  31. Bryan D'Sa says

    Hi Shireen,

    Hope all is well with you and the family. I tried this recipe and it turned out really good.. I even got a compliment from Sharon. I do the cooking, now that I’ve retired, so always looking for new dishes to cook.

    Bryan

    Reply

    • Shireen Sequeira says

      Hi Bryan,

      How lovely to receive a comment from you! We are doing well, thank you! How are you all? Thanks for the feedback on this recipe! So glad to know that you liked it!

      Reply

  32. Veena Dsouza says

    I’ve been trying some of your recipes and they’re all absolutely delicious and very meticulous! Thanks a lot for sharing

    Reply
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