Chicken – Ash Gourd Curry

Cut both chicken & ash gourd into medium sized pieces and clean well.

Crush Green chillies, 6 garlic cloves, some curry leaves and ginger and keep aside.

Extract thick coconut milk from 2 cups of coconut and keep aside.

Slice tomatoes vertically and keep aside.

Fry 1 cup of coconut in a pan without using oil.

When coconut becomes dry, add some coconut oil and continue frying.

Add half of the shallots into it and keep on frying.

Then add coriander seeds, red chillies, pepper corns, fennel seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, poppy seeds and cashew nuts and fry all these ingredients in low fire until everything is fried well as in the pic.

When these fried ingredients is down to room temperature, grind them to a fine paste adding enough water.

Place a kadai on fire and add some coconut oil.

Add finely sliced onions and saute them.

When the onions are about to turn golden color, add crushed ingredients and keep on stirring until their rawness is gone.

Add chicken and ash gourd pieces and mix well.

Add turmeric powder and salt and mix well.

Add 1 cup water and allow the ingredients to be cooked well in the closed kadai.

When the chicken and ash gourd pieces are cooked, add ground masala and tomato pieces.

Allow the curry to be boiled for 2 more minutes.

Then add coconut milk and keep the fire low.

:- Do not allow the curry to boil after adding coconut milk. Just keep it hot and switch off fire.

Slice the remaining shallots and garlic cloves vertically.

Fry them in some coconut oil until golden brown. Add curry leaves and fry. Add this to the curry.

:- Serve with hot rice.