The tenth of the month, so no prizes for guessing – time for the Muslim Food Bloggers Challenge post! This month, the theme was pretty interesting – to pick up a recipe bookmarked or pinned from a Muslimah blogger and recreate it in our own kitchen! It was a tough call for me. I have bookmarks all over the place, and ever since the challenge has started, it has been only increasing. However, a little bit of deep thought and all of a sudden I knew what I should be posting!
This Jeeraka Chicken caught my attention as soon as I saw it here. Fathima’s was one blog I followed initially when the cooking bug hit me. I loved her blog for the simple recipes especially the Malabar ones, and the warm clicks. She even did a guest post for me during that time. Unfortunately, the doctor seems to have taken a total break from blogging to tend more to her growing family. Anyway, I wish her luck!
I love the flavor of cumin and this was enough for me to cook it as soon as I saw the post. I waited for D to go home (he is the cumin “virodhi” [hater] in the family!) and made it for us. I ended up eating most of my first batch made. Since then, it keeps appearing on and off whenever I am in a mood for this dish. The ingredients are very limited and it comes together really easily. I guess by now after all these posts, you would agree to how much I love simple and easy recipes! 😀 The cumin taste is very prominent. Cumin is said to be good especially for new mothers, and hence explains that this dish is one of the commonly prepared Malabar recipes for them. Do read her post for more information on the dish. Off to the recipe…
Jeeraka Kozhi/ Jeera Kozhi ~ Malabar Cumin Chicken
Ingredients
- 900 gm chicken cut into small peices (I have used drumsticks here)
- 2 heaped tbsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- FOR GRINDING:
- 2 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp peppercorns
- 10 shallots peeled
- 4 cloves garlic
- A small pc ginger
- 1 to mato
- 1 green chilli
- FOR TEMPERING:
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 4 shallots chopped
- A sprig curry leaves
Instructions
- Grind everything under the "for grinding" into a smooth paste.
- Add the chicken, powders and the paste with a splash of water and salt into a chatti.
- Cook till done, sauteing occassionally to avoid sticking.
- In a small pan, heat the oil. Fry the shallots and curry leaves till the shallots are browned.
- Add into the chicken and serve hot.

I too love cumin flavour and a dish with chicken and cumin is drool-worthy! I have to say – anything that requires me to grind and make a paste – is not a simple dish. 🙂
This looks delicious, all you need now is a nice piece of bread
love to dig in right away, scrumptious ..love cumin flavor, bookmarked to try !
Looks very delicious dear.loving the flavours
This is a simple recipe …I would love to pair it with paratha…
looks lovely and now you made me hungry when there are still few more hours for dinner.. yum
I love cumin flavor !!This one seems like a must try here!Bookmarked☺☺
Such a wonderful choice for this month’s challenge!
I love recipes with warm spices, the smell alone is so comforting!
I love cumin and this will surely be a hit in my house. Looks very tempting!!
You had me salivating dear. But I wanted to understand is cumin a pronounced taste in the recipe. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
I thought cumin does not prominently feature in kerala cuisines! Seems like a refreshing change! What I love is the limited ingredients along with the simple cooking!
Lovely choice! It looks like chicken was a popular meal item this round 😉
I too love cumin flavor in my dishes specially curries…Your curry looks lip-smacking ,nice choice!
Jeera is my favorite spice and luckily my family loves it too.
This will be a winner on my tabke for dinner.😊
lovely share rafeeda, its easy and simple and looks delicious too…yum