Chicken Chukka (Chicken Varuval)

Chicken Chukka is a Tamil Nadu style dry chicken curry made with onions/shallots, plenty of spices and herbs. It is also known as Chicken Varuval and is a staple among the Tamil meat eating communities. Traditionally it is eaten with cooked rice alongside Rasam and Sambar. But it also goes well with ghee rice, chapati or dosas. In this post I share the recipe to make this delicious dish from scratch, including the spice blend.

About Chicken Chukka (Varuval)

You will find Chicken Chukka more commonly on the Tamil restaurant menus, especially those serving Chettinad foods. It is a dry dish where most of the moisture is evaporated at the near end, so the finished dish has a thick delicious masala. There are a few different versions like Chettinad chicken varuval and Pepper chicken varuval.

Similar versions of this exist in other cuisines like this Chicken Bhuna which hails from North India and this Kodi Vepudu from Andhra cuisine. A closer version of this Chicken Chukka is the Mangalorean Kori Sukka (Sukka/chukka meaning dry) which I am yet to share.

Like any other Indian dish the preparation for this starts with dry roasting the whole spices to make a spice blend. While your spices cool down, prep-up the onions. If you want, you may briefly marinate the chicken with ginger garlic, turmeric, salt and lemon juice. This step helps to get rid of the poultry smell and tenderize the chicken.

Lastly we stir fry and cook the chicken with onions/ shallots and the ground spice blend. With little effort you will have a Chicken Chukka with a blast of flavors. You can make this dish ahead and store for 3 to 4 days. Reheat it until really hot in a steamer or a cooker (pot-in-pot). I have a expert tips section below and here are the ingredients for this recipe.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Chicken: In Indian cuisine, bone-in chicken is the gold standard for the real flavor. Since we don’t use any chicken broth or stock it makes sense to use bone-in meat. However it depends on personal preference and you can also use boneless chicken thighs or breasts cut down to chunks.
• Whole spices: We use whole spices like coriander, cumin, fennel to make the spice blend. But if you don’t want to make this yourself, use a store bought garam masala or a homemade version. But note that fresh ground spice blend is always the best choice and produces the best flavors in your dish. Store bought spice blends are often oxidized so have less aroma.
• Curry leaves: Fresh curry leaves are the life for any South Indian dishes and the flavors cannot be replicated with dried curry leaves or its substitutes. But Chicken Varuval still tastes delicious without curry leaves.
• Dried red chilies: Though this recipe calls for dried red chilies you may use any Indian chili powder. For a low heat preference use, Kashmiri chili powder. Using whole dried chilies give a pungent and fresher chili flavors to the chicken chukka.
• Coconut and fried gram (roasted chana dal)/ cashews: These ingredients are used to add body, soak up the excess chicken juices in the pan, impart mild sweet tones and balance the hot flavors. A lot of people also use white poppy seeds but these are not easily available where I live so I don’t use them.

Photo Guide

Step by step Photo Instructions

1. On a medium heat, dry roast red chilies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and black pepper until aromatic & crunchy. Add 1 sprig curry leaves, dried coconut and roasted gram or cashews. Toast for a min until the leaves turn crisp. Cool down and make a fine powder.

2. Heat oil in a pan and add 1 sprig curry leaves. Optionally If you like whole spices, you may add a small cinnamon piece and 2 cloves. These are not a part of the recipe in the card.

3. Add coarsely crushed shallots or finely chopped onions and saute for 5 minutes, until the raw flavor is gone. Add the ginger garlic and saute for another minute, until aromatic.

4. Add chicken, turmeric and salt. Stir fry on a medium high heat for 2 to 3 mins, till the chicken turns white in color.

5. cover and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes.

6. Stir in the ground spices and saute for 2 mins.

7. If your chicken releases some juices you don’t need to add water. Else your pan will be dry, so pour about ¼ cup hot water and cook till the chicken is completely cooked through. Adjust more or less water as needed, depending on the kind of chicken. Organic chicken requires more water to cook. Taste test and adjust salt and add lemon juice.

8. Saute till the masala clings on to the chicken and turns aromatic.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve with rice and rasam.

Expert Tips

• If you want you may marinate the chicken briefly with lemon juice, salt and turmeric to get rid of the meat smell. However you won’t find much difference if you are using fresh cut chicken (not frozen). For nearly the same result, cook chicken on a medium heat.
• If you are using chicken breasts, note that it cooks faster than bone-in cut chicken or thighs and is likely to get overcooked if you roast for too long. It is very important to adjust the cook time.
• A lot of people do not like getting whole spices in their food, so I have not included them in the recipe. However if you prefer, you can any whole spices you like such as cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon or a bay leaf.

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