Snacks & street food · Andhra Pradesh

Mirapakaya Kodi Vepudu

Andhra green chilli chicken fry: boneless chicken tossed dry with a coarse paste of green chillies, garlic and coriander until it is blistered, fragrant and searingly hot.

Prep 20 min · Cook 30 min · Total 50 min · Serves 4

Ingredients

Chicken

• 600 g Boneless chicken thighs
• ½ tsp Turmeric
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice

Green chilli paste

• 12 Green chillies
• 8 cloves Garlic
• 1 inch Ginger
• 1 cup Coriander leaves and stems
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds

Fry

• 4 tbsp Groundnut oil
• ½ tsp Mustard seeds
• 3 sprigs Curry leaves
• 1 Onion, finely sliced
• 1 tsp Ground coriander
• ½ tsp Garam masala
• ½ tsp Ground black pepper
• ½ tsp Salt
• 4 Green chillies, slit

Method

1. Season the chicken. Toss the chicken with the turmeric, salt and lemon juice and leave for 10 minutes.
2. Grind the paste. Blitz the green chillies, garlic, ginger, coriander and cumin to a coarse paste with no water, or just a splash if the blender sticks.
3. Temper and fry onions. Heat the groundnut oil in a wide heavy kadai. Add the mustard seeds, and when they splutter, the curry leaves and slit green chillies. Add the onion and fry until light golden.
4. Fry the chicken. Turn the heat to high, add the chicken and fry, stirring, for 5 minutes until sealed. Cover and cook on medium for 6 to 7 minutes until just cooked through, letting the juices run out.
5. Add the paste and dry it out. Stir in the green chilli paste, ground coriander and salt. Fry uncovered on medium-high, stirring and scraping, until the juices evaporate and the paste clings to the chicken in dark green, slightly crisp patches.
6. Finish. Sprinkle over the garam masala and pepper, toss for a minute and serve hot as a starter, or with rice and rasam or pappu.

Tips

Seed half the chillies if your batch is very hot; the long frying mellows them a little but not much. The real flavour comes from frying until completely dry, so don't stop while there is still liquid in the pan.