Chicken Kubera

Pics Courtesy: Prakash Kamath, Kanthavar

Ever since I tasted this special Chicken dish in a small restaurant in Mannagudda in Mangalore back in the late Eighties and early Nineties, I have been trying to find the recipe for this divine starter dish popularised by a culinary expert called Karunakar.

Karunakar left that small restaurant and joined a bigger establishment and continued cooking his wonderful recipes. Though he was close to me and he used to make dishes according to my liking, he was not educated enough to tell me the ingredients and the recipe. Eventually, Karunakar faded away into thin air for reasons best known to him and he never returned to Mangalore.

Here I go with this prized dish, almost like the one I tasted 20 years or more ago like Karunakar made it, which is popularly called -

'Chicken Kubera'

This dish is dedicated to that wonderful person Karunakar whom we all used to fondly call 'Karna', a ‘Kubera’ himself, rich with his culinary expertise but ended with misfortune in life. Wherever Karna may be today, I salute him for his innovations in cooking!

This is what I have finally prepared. This was first prepared and published by me in the year 2007 in a Mangalorean website. Hundreds of viewers have tried this dish and felt good with the results. I hope you all will find this good on you palates too.

"Happy New Year to you all and happy eating too!"

Ingredients:
1. Chicken without skin - 2kg with bones or 1 kg boneless, cut into 2” pieces
2. Salt  - To taste
3. Lemon Squeezed - 1 Medium
4. Kasoori Methi - 1 Tbsp
5. Red Chilli Powder (Cayenne Pepper) - 1 Tbsp + 1Tsp
6. Kashmiri Chilli Powder - 1 Tbsp + 1Tsp
7. Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 Tbsp
8. Turmeric Powder - ½ tsp
9. Coriander Powder - 1 Tsp
10. Cumin Powder - 1 Tsp
11. Garam Masala Powder - 1 Tsp
12. Sugar - 1+1 tsp
13. Caraway Seeds (Oama) - 1/4 Tsp
14. Corn Flour - 2 Tbsp
15. Refined Flour (Maida) - 2 Tbsp
16. Brown Onion Paste - 3 Tbsp(Or 3 Medium Sliced Onions browned with little oil in a shallow  pan & ground to a paste)
17. Chopped Garlic - 2 Tbsp
18. Ginger Julienne - 2 Tbsp
19. Black Pepper Powder - 1 Tbsp
20. Tamarind - 1” ball in 20ml water
21. Tomato Ketchup  -  3 Tbsp
22. Coriander Leaves - A handful chopped
23. Cashew Bits  - 25 Gm or more
24. Dry Red Chillies(Long and Short) - A handful broken
25. Curry Leaves - A handful   
26. Refined Vegetable Oil/Ghee - For deep & shallow frying

Method:
Combine ingredients 2-13 in a bowl with little water and rub this paste on the chicken pieces. Marinate for 4-12 Hrs in a Fridge.

Mix in the Corn Flour and Refined Flour and Deep fry in oil under medium heat till well cooked and crisp. Keep aside.

Heat little oil/Ghee in a wok and fry ingredients 23, 24 and 25 till crisp and light brown. Keep aside.
Heat some more oil/Ghee in the same wok and fry chopped garlic, brown Onion paste and Ginger julienne till oil leaves the sides and raw smell disappears.
Add Tomato Ketchup and Tamarind Juice along with salt, pepper, 1 tsp Sugar, 1 tsp Red chilli powder and Kashmiri Chilli powder.
Add little water to dilute the sauce.
Check for Salt.
As sauce starts to thicken, mix in the deep fried Chicken pieces and when the sauce becomes dry, add the fried Cashew bits along with the fried Red Chillies and Curry leaves. 
Mix well and keep on medium flame for 2 mins. 
Garnish with chopped Coriander leaves and serve with lemon wedges.

Serves Six with good appetite. Maybe more, if you add extra spice!

Chicken Kubera Konkani Video