Kuti cooks a chicken curry

The coastal town of Mamallapuram , aka Mahabalipuram is located on the east side of India, a couple of hours south of  Chennai (aka Madras) It’s a strange place with random temples and carvings scattered all about. Some say that it may have been a training ground for stone carvers who then went on to build grander versions in other places.

Today Mamallapuram is a small fishing village cum tourist town with a ton of tourist shops selling everything from baggy cotton pants to massive stone carvings. The original ancient structures are wonderful and really quite intriguing, but as for the town itself, I have to say I couldn’t really get too excited about it.

So it was a great surprise to discover, up a flight of yellow stairs in the middle of the dusty fishing village, the delightful rooftop Good Luck Cafe and the even more delightful cook, Kuti. When we arrived she was sitting at the next table chatting away in her broken English to a German couple she had just served. “The food is wonderful” they told us.”We come here when ever we can”

And they were right. My calamari masala was fresh and delicious and when I told Kuti that, she flung her arms around me and kissed me over and over on both cheeks.

Needless to say, once the German couple left, she joined us at our table, and readily agreed to let me come the next day and photograph her cooking. And then she hung a garland of jasmine in my hair and kissed me again. I went back to our little room feeling much warmer towards Mamallapuram.

When I showed up the next morning Kuti was just starting to prepare a big chicken curry. I scrambled to write down the recipe as she went through her steps, but like all natural cooks, she measures by eye. What I got was more a list of ingredients with things like “turmeric – like this” The recipe I came away with was a little sketchy

I’ve done my research and tried to fill the gaps and here’s what I’ve come up with.

Kuti’s South Indian Chicken Curry (more or less)

Ingredients

1kg chicken pieces

3 fresh green chillies

4 small purple onions

5 cloves garlic

1 inch grated ginger

3 tomatoes

Handful of curry leaves ( if you are lucky enough to get them!)

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp coriander seeds

2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

2 bay leaves

1 stick of cinnamon

1 cardamom,

2 cloves

1 cup coconut milk (Kuti made her own from fresh coconut)

A big handful of fresh coriander leaves

salt

• Roast and grind the dry spices – coriander, cumin, fennel seeds, cardamom etc. and set aside
• Heat the oil and put in the curry leaves for a few minutes. Then add the onions and fry till they are translucent. Then add garlic and ginger and cook for a minute or two.
• Add the tomatoes and salt and cover till they soften and clump together and all the water has evaporated from them.
• Then add all the spices and chilies. Stir . Then add the chicken. Give it a good stir and cook for 30 minutes. Check the chicken is done.
• Add the coconut milk and the coriander leaves  and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

 

 

And needless to say, lunch was delicious, as was the company. We sat around with Kuti, the cafe owner and another lady from the  neighbourborhood for most of the afternoon, exchanging information about their lives and ours, bridging cultural gaps and finding warmth and connection. A few more hugs and a few more kisses and we said our goodbyes.  We left Mamallapuram feeling really good.

 

 

By the way, I have a new album of images from India here. If you haven’t seen them yet, take a look.