KERALA CHICKEN ISHTU / Chicken stew with coconut milk, ginger, curry leaves and chillies
I’ve been craving Kerala stew, and decided to try this recipe vs how the vegetable version I usually eat is made.
This is simple if the key ingredients are at hand – curry leaves, ginger, garlic, green chillies, whole spices.
The recipe and process are linked, so I won’t go into those, just my changes. I found the omission of ginger in the cooking process very odd, as ginger has been one of the main flavors whenever I’ve eaten this. It’s also ginger and not garlic used in her own vegetarian recipe. So, I added a good bit of ginger. I used chicken thighs, let them cook for a good stock to form, then removed them before adding the coconut milk. I shredded the meat and added it back for a few minutes at the end. I also added broccoli slaw (to my bowl, not the soup, to keep the flavor clean) for vegetable content.
I made this thinner than usual because I was going to add rice noodles (instead of making appam) and eat it like a soup. It worked, but I didn’t love the Thai rice noodles – cappelini would have probably been better.
The flavors were a bit muddy compared to the vegetarian version I usually eat, but still tasty. Another time I would use the vegetarian recipe (without tomatoes or turmeric, this is a white stew for me!) but add the chicken early on. I love cauliflower, potatoes, and carrots in this, so I’ll make sure I have them on hand next time I make it.
Still, flavorful for not much effort.
