Kozhi Stew
Chicken coconut milk stew — tender chicken pieces cooked in a fragrant, ivory-pale gravy of thick and thin coconut milk layered with whole spices (cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, star anise), fried onion and shallots, ginger, green chilli, potato, and curry leaves, seasoned only with salt and white pepper — no red chilli, no coriander powder, no turmeric in the Travancore version, so the sauce remains a pure, luminous white. The chicken is never deeply fried before adding; it cooks gently in the coconut milk from raw, absorbing its flavour as the milk reduces slightly. The stew is the classic companion to appam: the hollow centre of the lacy appam is filled with the warm stew. A Sunday morning ritual in every Syrian Christian Travancore household; Christmas morning breakfast is appam and kozhi stew without exception.
Cuisines
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Recipe
Ingredients
| 500 grams | chicken, cut into pieces |
| 1 tablespoon | coconut oil |
| 1 | cinnamon stick |
| 3 | cloves |
| 3 | cardamom pods |
| 1 teaspoon | fennel seeds |
| 1 | large onion, thinly sliced |
| 2 | green chilies, slit |
| 1 tablespoon | ginger-garlic paste |
| 1 cup | coconut milk |
| 1 cup | water |
| 1 teaspoon | black pepper powder |
| 1 teaspoon | turmeric powder |
| 1 teaspoon | coriander powder |
| 1 | medium carrot, diced |
| 1 | medium potato, diced |
| 1 | tomato, chopped |
| 1 sprig | curry leaves |
| 1 tablespoon | lemon juice |
| — | salt to taste |
Instructions
- 1 Heat coconut oil in a pot and add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and fennel seeds.
- 2 Add sliced onions and green chilies, sauté until onions are golden brown.
- 3 Stir in ginger-garlic paste and sauté until the raw smell disappears.
- 4 Add chicken pieces and sauté until they are lightly browned.
- 5 Mix in turmeric powder, coriander powder, and black pepper powder.
- 6 Add diced carrots, potatoes, and chopped tomato, sauté for a few minutes.
- 7 Pour in coconut milk and water, stir well and bring to a boil.
- 8 Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the chicken and vegetables are cooked through.
- 9 Add curry leaves and lemon juice, adjust salt to taste.
- 10 Simmer for another 2-3 minutes and remove from heat.
Tips
For a richer flavor, use freshly extracted coconut milk.