Cooking with NUH - Healthy Deepavali meal

A popular dish originating from South India, Chettinad chicken is a treat for all your senses! With the perfect blend of natural flavours from the spices used in its preparation, this dish goes well with jeera rice (cumin seeds rice) and raita (cucumber and tomato salad). Learn from our dietitian Tan Hooi Yen and chef Komathy Perumal on how to cook these three dishes in a healthy way for your family this Deepavali!

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Recipe (serves 10 pax)
Ingredients for jeera rice
Basmati rice (560g)
Water (600ml)
Vegetable oil (30ml)
Red onions (50g)
Cumin seeds (20g)
Coriander leaves (20g)

Steps to make jeera rice
1. Add basmati rice and water into the rice cooker to cook for 20 to 30 minutes
2. Add vegetable oil, red onions, cumin seeds and coriander leaves into a hot pan and sauté for 5 minutes until they turn fragrant
3. Add in the cooked rice and sauté for another 10 minutes

Ingredients for raita
Cucumbers (1kg)
Tomatoes (200g)
Coriander leaves (10g)
Red onions (50g)
Green chillies (20g)
Cumin seeds powder (10g)
Low-fat yogurt (150g)
Lemon juice (10ml)

Steps to make raita
1. Remove the skin and seeds of the cucumber and tomatoes
(Alternative way to peel off the skin of the tomato: Cut a shallow “X” at the bottom of the tomato then place it in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Transfer the tomato to an ice bath. Once the tomato has cooled off enough, the skin of tomato can now be easily peeled off.)
2. Dice the cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions and green chillies (seeds removed)
3. Finely chop the coriander leaves
4. Add the cut ingredients, cumin seeds powder and lemon juice into a large bowl and mix them well
5. Add in yogurt and mix them well
6. Chill the raita in the fridge for at least 30 minutes

Ingredients for Chettinad chicken
Skinless chicken (1.2kg)
Vegetable oil (30ml)
Red onions (100g)
Garlic paste (50g)
Ginger paste (50g)
Fresh tomatoes (200g)
Turmeric powder (15g)
Cardamon (5 pcs)
Cumin seeds (10g)
Fennel seeds (10g)
Coriander seeds (10g)
Curry leaves (10g)
Dried chillies (10g or more depending on preference)
Black pepper corns (10g)
Salt (15g)
Star anises (5 pcs)
Cinnamon sticks (3 pcs)
Some coriander leaves for garnish

Steps to make Chettinad chicken
1. Marinate chicken with turmeric powder and set it aside for 30 minutes
2. Add the cardamon, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, 2 pieces of star anise, 1 piece of cinnamon stick, dried chilli, and black pepper corn into a cooking pan.
3. Dry roast them under low heat until they turn golden brown.
4. Let them cool down before dry blending it into a fine powder. Add more dried chillies if you want the chicken to be spicier
5. In a heated pan, add in vegetable oil, 3 pieces of star anise, 2 pieces of cinnamon sticks, and curry leaves.
6. Sauté them until they turn fragrant.
7. Add in the red onion and tomatoes and sauté for 15 minutes
8. Mix in the ginger and garlic paste
9. Add in the chicken and cook under low heat for 20 minutes
10. Add in the fine powder which was made earlier and mix it in well
11. Add some salt to taste and add in coriander leaves and mix them well.

Plate the three dishes using banana leaves and garnish with chillies.

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