Chicken Roast Andhra Style

Those who have tasted food at authentic Andhra style restaurants like RR, Annapoorna, Nagarjuna, Navayug and Amaravathi in Bangalore must have tasted their Biryani, Vegetarian meals on plantain leaf, Chicken Chilly, Chicken Roast and Chicken ’65.

I fell for Chicken roast when I first tasted it at RR in Gandhinagar Bangalore in 1980. I was living in Mysore in a small room shared with one Mohan Reddy that time. I compelled Reddy to get me the authentic recipe from his hometown Amarapuram in Andhra Pradesh. He obliged me and passed on the recipe as prepared by his mother at home. I noted it down on a piece of paper and lost it eventually!

Recently I was reminiscing over all those wonderful dishes that I had tasted during my Mysore and Bangalore days. I searched Google for Andhra style chicken roast and got one recipe which was almost near to what Reddy had given me. I could recollect the missing ingredients and sum up for that extra tang and flavour. Here is the spicy signature dish of Andhra known as Chicken Roast.

Ingredients:
1. Broiler Chicken Pieces without skin - 2 kg, cut into medium size pieces
2. Lemon - 2
3. Onions - 800 gms sliced
4. Tomatoes - 800 gms sliced
5. Ginger garlic paste - 8 tsp
6. Salt - To taste(I added 2.5 Tsp)
7. Red Chilly powder - 8 tsp (Or to taste)
8. Turmeric Powder - 2 Tsp
9. Refined Vegetable Oil - 10 ml
10. Clarified Butter (Ghee) - 40 ml
11. Coriander Seeds - 8 tsp
12. Whole Green Cardamom - 8
13. Cinnamon Stick - 4 inches
14. Clove – 12
15. Poppy Seeds (Khuskhus) - 4 tsp
16. Peppercorns - 1 Tsp
17. Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp
18. Fennel Seeds (Saunf) - 4 tsp
19. Cashew nut bits - 50 gms (Optional)
20. Curry leaves - 4 Sprigs
21. Coriander leaves - 50 gms chopped

Method:
1. Marinate the chicken pieces with juice of 2 lemons, salt to taste, 4 tsp red chilly Powder and Turmeric powder for 8-12 hours in the fridge.
2. Dry roast ingredients 11 through 18 and make a fine powder.
3. Heat 2 Tsp oil in a thick bottomed pan or shallow vessel. Fry the cashew nuts till light brown and curry leaves till crisp. Drain and keep aside.
4. Add more oil, fry onions till light brown, add ginger garlic paste and when oil leaves the sides, add the tomatoes and fry till raw smell disappears
5. Now add the remaining chilly powder, salt to taste and then the marinated chicken pieces. Mix well and cook for about 5 mins on high flame, turning the pieces over from time to time, taking care not to over-burn the pieces. Use wooden ladle for better results.
6. When water has evaporated and the chicken is half cooked, add the chopped coriander leaves, then add the masala powder, mix well and cover the vessel. Cook over low flame till chicken is done and the masala is thick and dry.
7. Pour ghee, mix in the fried cashew nuts and curry leaves. Serve with lemon wedges.

This goes well as a starter snack or as a side dish with Andhra Style Chicken Dum Biryani, Ghee Rice or rotis.
You can also consume it with steaming hot Basmati rice with little ghee and fresh lemon squeezed in.
This recipe is sufficient for 12-16 persons.

Note: 
Ingredients shown here are as per authentic Andhra Recipe given to me by my friend for 2 Kg chicken.
I have tried standard ingredients available in local stores. You may vary the quantity according to your need and taste.
This dish has been made slightly wet to go with biryani or rotis.
You can make it more dry and serve it as starter dish.