Recipe card
Chicken dry recipe
Chicken sukka, also known as kori sukka or ajadina, is a popular and loved dish from Mangalore, Udupi region, along with chicken ghee roast and kori rotti ghasi. The word sukka comes from the Hindi word sukha, which means dry. Chicken chukka can be prepared as dry or semi-gravy. And the best part? It pairs perfectly with various dishes- such as dosa, appam, any dosa variety, or Indian flatbread. The choice is yours! The sweetness of the coconut, the tanginess of the tamarind, and the flavors of roasted spices, along with the spiciness of the chilies, make this dish irresistibly delicious. The flavors of the fresh coconut are the highlight of this dish. You can also check mushroom sukka or eggplant sukka, which are prepared for a simple vegetarian meal.
Ingredients
For marination
You need a whole chicken - curry cut, lemon juice, and salt.
For chicken sukka masala
Aromatic spices: All ingredients are used on a daily basis in Indian cooking, such as coriander seeds, cumin seeds, methi, black peppercorns, and fennel seeds. Red chilies: Use Kashmiri, byadgi, or a combination of both. Cashews: Adds sweetness to the dish. Garlic: Enhances the flavor of the dish.
Other ingredients
Onion: Adds flavor to the dish. Coconut: Freshly grated coconut is the key ingredient and gives its traditional and signature flavor and texture. Check out the recipe card for the full list of the ingredients.
Step-by-step instructions
Marinate the chicken
Add the chicken, lemon juice, and salt and mix well. Marinate this for 15 to 30 minutes.
Chicken sukka masala
Add all the ingredients mentioned under “For the chicken sukka masala” to a pan and saute for 5 minutes on a medium flame or until aromatic. Keep stirring to prevent the spices from burning. Let this cool down completely. Transfer these roasted spices to a blender. Pulse it a few times to form a coarse powder.
Mangalorean chicken sukka
Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. Add onion, curry leaves, and green chilies and saute until translucent. Next, add marinated chicken and sukka masala and mix well. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in bewteen to avoid it from burning at the bottom. After the first 10 mins of cooking, add garam masala, coriander leaves, and salt and mix well. You can add ¼ cup of water here if the chicken leaves no water. After five more minutes, give it a nice mix. Finally, add the coconut, additional ¼ cup water if the mixture looks very dry, and mix well. Cover and cook for last 5 minutes. Serve chicken sukka with neer dosa for a traditional combo or with chapati, or rice, and enjoy.
Tips
Adjust the red and green chilies based on heat you can tolerate. Dry roasting the spices on low flame is very important. You can even dry roast the coconut before adding it to the recipe. You will get a nutty flavor along with the sweetness. If you want to make chicken sukka without coconut, you can skip it, but it will become a simple chicken curry. You will have to cook chicken for 20 minutes in total. If you want a wet sukka masala or semi-dry gravy, add more water.
More Mangalorean recipes
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