Curry Leaf Popcorn Chicken Recipes

CURRY LEAF POPCORN CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat a small, dry skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cardamom, coriander, cumin seeds, and the peppercorns, and toast for 30 to 45 seconds, swirling the mixture occasionally until the seeds release their aroma and start to brown. Divide the toasted spice mixture in half. Transfer one half of this mixture to a spice grinder and pulse to a fine powder. (You can prepare the spices up to 1 week in advance and store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.).
• In a blender, combine the remaining toasted spice mixture with the buttermilk, serrano chiles, scallions, 15 of the curry leaves, the garlic, 1 tsp of the cayenne, the ginger, lime juice, and 1 Tbsp of the salt. Pulse until completely smooth and transfer to a large resealable plastic bag. Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels. Trim excess fat from the chicken, and cut the flesh into 1 in [2.5 cm] cubes. Add to the marinade. Seal the bag and shake to coat evenly. Refrigerate for 4 hours.
• Meanwhile, prepare the dredging mixture. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the remaining half of the ground spice mixture with the flour, baking powder, baking soda, remaining ½ tsp cayenne, and remaining 1 tsp salt, shaking vigorously to blend. Finely chop 10 of the remaining curry leaves and add them to the dredging mixture. Seal the bag and shake again to mix well.
• Once the chicken has marinated, use tongs to lift out half the chicken pieces, shaking off the excess batter, and transfer to the bag with the dredging mixture. Seal the bag and shake to coat evenly. Transfer the chicken pieces to a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
• In a medium Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat to 350°F [180°C]. Fry the chicken in batches, turning occasionally, until golden brown and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or a spider, transfer the chicken to paper towels to drain.
• After the chicken is cooked, prepare the garnish: Cut the Thai chiles in half lengthwise. In the hot oil left in the pot, deep-fry the chiles and remaining 5 curry leaves until crispy, 30 to 40 seconds. Drain on paper towels.
• Put the chicken on a serving plate, garnish with the chiles and fried curry leaves, and serve hot with the maple-vinegar sauce or hot sauce.
• the approach:.
• Whenever I make popcorn chicken or fry larger serving pieces, I flavor the dish in stages. The whole spices are toasted to activate their oils. These are then blended into buttermilk to create a savory marinade. More seasoning is then added to the flour in the dredging mixture, and finally, the hot little nuggets of chicken are topped with crunchy fried curry leaves and chile peppers. While we often eat this with a hot sauce or ranch dressing, the very best accompaniment is the maple-vinegar syrup or green chutney.

POPCORN CHICKEN

Steps:

• Mix the all dry ingredients together in a bowl, then put a 1/4 of the mix in one of the bowls and mix with the milk until a med thick batter, at this stage you can taste the batter to see if it need more chilli or salt just a tiny bit will let you know if it needs more or not.
• Wash the chicken and cut into small nugget/popcorn size pieces.
• Put your cut chicken in the bowl with the seasoned batter and mix well let it sit for 20-40 minutes.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a deep frying pan or deep-fat fryer to 180°c (at which point, a cube of bread dropped in it should turn golden brown after 30 seconds).
• Using a fork pick out the chicken piece by piece and dip the chicken pieces in the dry flour mixture, cover with flour and Fry, in batches, for 8 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper, sprinkle with salt and serve.

CURRY LEAF POPCORN

Steps:

• Mix the curried chickpeas (see recipe here) with the popcorn, curry leaves and curry powder. Fry the mixture in the rapeseed oil, cool slightly and dig in.

POPCORN CHICKEN

Steps:

• Mix flour, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper together in a bowl. Beat eggs and lemon juice together in a separate bowl.
• Heat 1 1/2 to 2 inches of oil in a large pot over medium heat.
• Dip the chicken pieces into the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, and again into the flour mixture.
• Test the oil to make sure it is hot enough: a small amount of flour dropped in should sizzle. Place 10 pieces of chicken into the hot oil; cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper towel lined plate and season with salt. Repeat with remaining chicken.