Chettinad fry is the most simple dish to make, but packs a bomb of flavors. A fry with with lots of finely crushed and chopped garlic and ginger, curry leaves, thinly sliced onion and green chillies till dry. The curry leaves give that distinctive taste one associates with this kinda cuisine. I am in Kerala and beef is pretty popular in this state, the most common meat being buffaloes or bulls. The beet I got was extremely tender and this particular meat was marinated for 5 days with the basic seasonings of salt, turmeric and red chilli powder and thrown into the refrigerator where it was forgotten.
Whiskey & Food Pairing
Whiskey and the right food pairing can make or break your day. A simple chettinad fry with whiskey can make a really great combination. No need for those obscure cheeses or dark chocolates or the frustration in searching for them.
Ingredients for Chettinad Fry
1. 1 bottle of your favourite drink (or 2 or 3 but lets start with 1)
2. Lots of clean and washed fresh curry leaves, about 12 cloves crushed, finely sliced onions about 2 and finely chopped garlic, 1 inch finely chopped ginger, thin vertically sliced green chillies. Thats all this needs.
Lets make Chettinad Fry !
Since we are going to be paaring this with Duncan;s which is a scotch, its always a good idea to get the tongue get a feel of the flavors before the actual pairing so
1. Take a small sip of the scotch and let it rotate in your mouth so you get the complete experience. Like it? Lets do it again till there is a feeling of bliss all around.
2. Blast the beef in the cooker with about 1 cup water. Depending on the meat quality 12-13 should do. While this is happening go say hello to Duncan’s and get to know him better. Have some snacks handy but control, don’t over eat !
3. Take about 2tbls of coconut oil.. When in kerala go coco or go loco. Let it get heated. Till then you can have a word with Duncan’s again. You know, small conversations helps. Right after that you might have misplaced some things or some of the ingredients would have gone mysteriously missing right in front of the eyes. lame it on Duncan’s. Now put in the sliced onions, green chillies, garlic and curry leaves and stir but don’t shake yourself too much. They might insist you stop talking to Duncan’s. You dont want that !
4. After the mixture is fried well, put in only the pieces of meat from the cooker and start incorporating the mixture with the pieces. Start adding the liquid slowly. Dont waste that. Duncan’s will call out at this stage but ignore him. Where were we? Yeah slowly keep adding the liquid to this and keep stirring so its dry at the end with a glossy finish.
5. Transfer it to a plate, apologize to Duncan and begin.
Notes on Duncan’s
This scotch is incredibly smoky for the price point of Rs. 2000 change that I purchased from the Beverage corporation in Kerala… Really nice notes of honey dew and finish of lingering burnt ash.. It pairs well with the fry you just made as the simple flavors complements the smokiness of the whiskey. This pairs well with any of the spirits actually but works great with whiskey especially. If you are not a beef eater, you can use any meat. Chicken will be more intense but I am not much of a fowl eater so prefer red meat.
Let me know how it turns out !
For more chettinad recipes
Click here for a Mutton nalli chettinad fry and 15 mins mutton chukka using opos.
That’s what quite an interesting Beef Chettinad recipe with scotch thrown in!
Just what one needs this X’mas season!
Happy festivities!