Pepper chicken masala made with basic spices and herbs in south Indian style. It tastes great with plain rice, chapati or parotta.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup onions ((finely chopped or pureed))
  • ¾ tsp ginger garlic paste ((or grated))
  • 1 cup tomatoes (or ¾ cup tomato puree (optional))
  • salt (as needed)
  • 1 to 1½ tsp pepper corn (or coarse crushed)
  • ¼ tsp red chili powder ((or paprika))
  • ¾ to 1 tsp garam masala powder
  • 1 sprig curry leaves (or bay leaf or few mint leaves)
  • ½ tsp cumin (or jeera)
  • 2 to 3 green cardamoms
  • 1 inch cinnamon (or dalchini)
  • 3 cloves (or laung)
  • 2 to 3 tbsp oil
  • 500 grams chicken ((bone-in or boneless))
  • ¾ tsp ginger garlic paste ((or grated))
  • 1/8 tsp turmeric
  • salt little
  • 3 to 4 tbsp coconut milk ((optional))

Method

Preparation

  1. Marinate chicken with ingredients under marination. Keep it aside until needed.
  2. Pour oil to a hot pan. Add cumin, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Allow them to sizzle.
  3. Next add curry leaves and ginger garlic paste. Fry till the raw smell of ginger garlic goes off.
  4. Add onions and fry till they turn golden.
  5. Then add tomatoes and salt. Fry till the tomatoes turn mushy and soft.
  6. Add red chili powder, garam masala and coarsely crushed pepper corn.
  7. Fry everything well till the mixture looses all the moisture.

How to make Pepper Chicken

  1. Add chicken and fry for about 3 to 4 minutes.
  2. Cover and cook on a low flame till the chicken turns tender.
  3. If the chicken doesn't let out enough moisture to cook, then add little water.
  4. Cover and cook until soft. If you want to have gravy,
  5. You can take it off while there is moisture. You can also pour 3 to 4 tbsp coconut milk.
  6. If you prefer a dry version, cook without lid and evaporate the moisture in the chicken. fry till all the moisture dries up.
  7. Serve pepper chicken hot with rice and Rasam. Squeeze in some lemon juice before serving.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.