Chicken Xacuti – Chicken curry made with roasted grated coconut

This recipe of Chicken Xacuti Curry is usually made with beef. I hope I get this right, it is pronounced as Sha-cu-tea(Xacuti). Well as you can see I am not one of those professional writers 🙂

For every celebration this is a must have in most christian households. I am not trying to get too religious on you but you have to understand the Indian culture. Due to religious beliefs there is differences in cooking certain foods that are not cooked in the Hindu households. You can read about Goan culture and cuisine here.

All I remember is my mum and our live-in-maid would make xacuti from scratch. Where whole spices were first roasted and then ground into a powder. Then fresh grated coconut was roasted followed by the roasting of the onions. Then all of it was hand ground on a grinding stone, which was a long process. I am thankful to have grown up with these memories which I cherish, but at the same time am sadden as my kids haven’t got to experience them.

So if you are looking to experience the exotic tropics, then this recipe is just for you. The roasted spices and coconut creates an aroma that is very warm.  This recipe knocks off the long list of spices that you need on hand and is much faster. To grind the spices if you have a Ninja Blender with the single serve cup which I got from Bed Bath & Beyond it does a pretty good job.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken approx 4 lbs or chicken breast
• 1 medium onion
• 5oz of  frozen grated coconut (thawed)
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• 4-5 tbsp of xacuti masala
• 3 tbsp of lemon juice
• 1/4 cup of coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 2 sprigs of curry leaf (optional)
• Salt to taste

Directions:

• Wash and cut the chicken, apply salt, lemon juice and refrigerate for 30 minutes (applying salt & lemon juice seasons the chicken better).
• Heat a non-stick pan add the grated coconut and saute it on medium heat for 15-20 minutes till it is toasted to be lightly brown. Take off heat and keep aside.

• Next add to the same hot pan quartered onion and roast till soften.

 

• In the ninja single serve cup add the coconut, onions, ginger, garlic along with 1/2 cup water and grind it to a paste for about 1 minute.
• Heat oil in a pan, add the xacuit masala and saute for 15-20 seconds. Next add the ground paste and saute for 1 minute till well blended. Add the chicken and saute for about 3 to 4 minutes till mixed well. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Next add the water, coconut milk and check on the salt. Add salt to your taste if required.
• Cook covered for another 25 minutes on medium heat. Check occasionally.
• If you do add the curry leaves then add it 5 minutes before you take it off the heat.

• Serve hot with plain rice or bread.

Chicken Xacuti taste better the next day.

Also on a side note if any recipe suggest that you can “replace fresh grated coconut with dehydrated coconut flakes” then it’s not true. The flavor, texture are not the same according to my humble opinion and is a bad idea.