Kerala chicken stew

I am not planning to turn this into a food blog. But I thought the appam recipe was not complete without the chicken stew to go with it. This is something I picked up from my mil soon after marriage - though my stew never tastes as delicious as hers.

Here is what you need:
1. A few cinnamon sticks, star anise, 3-4 cardamom pods and clove.
2. 2/3 onions sliced long.
3. 2-3 green chillies cut lengthwise.
4. Chopped ginger and garlic - 1 teaspoon each
5. A dozen pepper corns and curry leaves.
6. Potatoes (2 no.) and carrots (1 big) cut into medium sized cubes
7. Tomatoes (2) sliced longish
8. Thick coconut milk - 1 pouch/ or use coconut milk powder to make the milk. Back home, we squeeze out the milk from grated coconut. The first thick milk is kept aside for the final flavoring while the 2nd and 3rd milk which is watery is used for cooking the vegetables and chicken.

Pour 3 tablespoons of oil (for the health freak - others can afford to put a little more oil) and throw in Item no. 1 in to the pan.

A minute later, add the onion and curry leaves.

Toss in green chillies, pepper, and the chopped ginger and garlic. Keep stirring till the onion is translucent and golden brown. (A lil salt helps to achieve this faster.) The more the oil, the better the result.

Wash and rinse the chicken (say 500 gm), meanwhile.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder (but stew can afford to look white too, so if you dont like it yellowish, forget the turmeric). Add a teaspoon of coriander powder and a teaspoon of garam masala powder (the spice mix). Stir well for a while...
Toss in the potatoes, carrots and tomatoes and stir again. Now let the chicken join in the fun. Dilute the coconut milk in the tetrapak and add to it.

Cook covered, or in a pressure cooker (one whistle will do). Dont forget to add salt as required.

Open the cooker once the pressure reaches the minimum. Add some thick coconut milk from the tetra pak to get a thick gravy. Heat it but switch off before the curry starts to boil - the milk could curdle!

And lo presto! here is Mrs. VP Mathew's Kerala Chicken Stew! (Well, I dont have the best pictures, because they were taken on the sly while keeping my hubby and kids waiting at the table for their breakfast.)
Footnote: The measurements given are only a rough estimate since veteran cooks like my mil and granny just make a mental calculation according to the amount of chicken available. One has to learn through trial and error as a result.

The same recipe can be used for making a mutton stew, an egg stew (add boiled eggs at the end) or a plain vegetable stew.
p.s. I am submitting this to the instant food carnival of Mallugirl.