One of the famous Malabar dishes is Adukku Pathiri. I have made this many times and not a single time was I able to beat the taste of my mom’s Adukku Pathiri…
In the past, I had posted two Malabar dishes: Unnakaya (Stuffed plantain fry) and Kayi pola (Plantain cake). One of my wishes is to taste each and every Malabar dishes. Malabar is a district in Kerala, renowned for its distinctive cuisine. The first thing that comes to the mind of any Keralites while thinking about Malabar is the delicious and mouth watering food. Malabar cuisine is famous all over India and their recipes are mostly influenced by Dutch, French, Portugese and Arabic cuisines. They offer an enchanting array of both Seafood and meat delicacies and each and every dishes are known for their rich taste which will linger in your mouth forever.
Malabar dishes have been very popular in my dad’s family. He hails from Cochin, and somehow most of the dishes made in his home has Malabar influence. My mom learned to cook Malabar dishes from her mother-in-law and sister-in-law; two phenomenal cooks. A few of the common Malabar dishes made in my family are Unnakaya, Kayi pola, Adukku Pathiri, Malabar Biryani etc. After tasting those dishes, I instantly became a die hard fan of Malabar cuisine.
Adukku Pathiri is yet another famous Malabar dish. There are two ways of making this, a sweet version with a sweet stuffing and a savory version with chicken stuffing. I have tasted both the versions and they are delicious. Through this post I am sharing the Adukku Pathiri with chicken stuffing.
“Adukku” in malayalam which means “Layered” and “Pathiri” literally means “crepes made of rice flour”. The ironic part is that in this dish the crepe is made of All-purpose or Maida flour and not rice flour and yet it’s called Pathiri, I have no explanation for this. This has been called like this and hence, I don’t dare to change its name. When I once made this for my non-indian friends, I did say that it’s called adukku pathiri, it was hard for them to pronounce so I said it can be translated as ‘Chicken Pie’ as it resembles to a pie.
Adukku Pathiri
Ingredients
For making Crepes
- All-Purpose flour or Maida or Gluten free flour- 1 1/2 cups
- Egg, large- 1
- Water- enough to make not so thick batter
- Salt- to taste
For making Chicken stuffing:
Cooking chicken:
- Chicken, boneless, cubed- 1 pound
- Ginger-Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
- Chili powder- 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder- 2 pinches
- Fennel powder- 1 1/2 tsp
- Garam Masala- 1/2 tsp
- Salt- to taste
- Oil- 2 tbsp
Stuffing:
- Onion, cut long and thin – 3 large
- Ginger-Garlic paste- 2 tsp
- Garam Masala- 1/2 tsp
- Chili powder- 1/2 tsp
- Fennel powder- 1 tsp
- Coriander powder- 3/4 tsp
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig
- Cilantro, chopped- 1 handful
- Oil- 1 tbsp
Other Ingredients:
- Cashew nuts- 1/2 cup
- Raisins- 2 tbsp
- Egg, beaten- 2
- Poppy seeds- 3 tbsp
- Ghee, to roast nuts and raisins- 1 tbsp
Instruction
Step:1 Making pathiri or crepes.
- In a blender, combine all purpose flour, egg, salt and water and make into a smooth not so thick batter.
- Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat, grease the pan with cooking spray and pour a ladle of batter.
- Spread the batter to thin round shape, let it cook for a few minutes, flip it to the other side and let that side also cook.
- Repeat and keep aside the cooked crepes.
Step 2: Cooking chicken
- In a large non stick sauce pan, combine the chicken, chili powder, turmeric powder, fennel powder, garam masala and salt.
- Cover the pan with its lid and cook the chicken until it turns tender and well cooked.
- When all the water dries up, add 2 tbsp of oil to the cooked chicken, and stir fry the chicken till it turns light brown in color.
- Using a wooden spoon, break the cooked chicken into thin small pieces.
- Remove from the heat and keep the chicken aside.
Step: 3 For making stuffing:
- Heat a large non stick pan, add oil, add onion, put salt and saute till the onion turns tender and slightly browned.
- Add the ginger-garlic paste, saute for a few minutes.
- Add garam masala and curry leaves, saute for a minute.
- Now, add the cooked chicken along with chili powder, fennel powder and coriander powder.
- Combine well and let it cook for some more time.
- Finally garnish it with cilantro and remove from the heat.
Step 4: Roast cashew nuts and raisins:
- Heat a small pan, add ghee and roast cashew nuts and raisins till they turn golden brown in color and keep aside
- Beat the eggs and keep aside.
Step 5: Assembling
- Grease a round cake pan or round glass bowl with ghee.
- Dip one of the crepes in the beaten eggs and place it as the first layer on the cake pan.
- Spread the chicken stuffing on top of the pancake, don’t over spread it.
- Spread some roasted cashew nuts, raisins and poppy seeds over the chicken stuffing.
- Dip the second crepe in beaten egg and place it over the chicken stuffing.
- Repeat this till you form layers with 5 crepes. ( you could make as many layers as you want)
- After you form 5 layers, pour 2 tbsp of beaten egg over the layered crepes.
- Make a second batch with the rest of the crepes and chicken stuffing.
Step 6: Steam cooking Adukku Pathiri:
- Fill 1/4 th of a large pan with water.
- Heat the large pan with water over medium heat.
- Cover the cake pan with aluminum foil.
- Place the cake pan into the water in the large pan.
- Cover the large pan with its lid and steam cook it for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, take the cake pan out of water, remove the aluminum foil and let cool down for a while.
- Run a sharp knife through the sides of the adukku pathiri and gently lift it using a spatula and place it on a platter.
- Cut the adukku pathiri and serve as an appetizer or main course.
Tips:
- You could use gluten free flour, I used gluten free flour that’s why the crepes are yellow in color.
- If there is any leftover chicken stuffing, you could make chicken cutlet out of it, add cooked potato into the chicken stuffing and shape into small rolls. Recipe: Chicken Cutlet.
- All-Purpose flour or Maida or Gluten free flour- 1½ cups
- Egg, large- 1
- Water- enough to make not so thick batter
- Salt- to taste
- Chicken, boneless, cubed- 1 pound
- Ginger-Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
- Chili powder- 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder- 2 pinches
- Fennel powder- 1½ tsp
- Garam Masala- ½ tsp
- Salt- to taste
- Oil- 2 tbsp
- Onion, cut long and thin - 3 large
- Ginger-Garlic paste- 2 tsp
- Garam Masala- ½ tsp
- Chili powder- ½ tsp
- Fennel powder- 1 tsp
- Coriander powder- ¾ tsp
- Curry leaves- 1 sprig
- Cilantro, chopped- 1 handful
- Oil- 1 tbsp
- Cashew nuts- ½ cup
- Raisins- 2 tbsp
- Egg, beaten- 2
- Poppy seeds- 3 tbsp
- Ghee, to roast nuts and raisins- 1 tbsp
- In a blender, combine all purpose flour, egg, salt and water and make into a smooth not so thick batter.
- Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat, grease the pan with cooking spray and pour a ladle of batter.
- Spread the batter to thin round shape, let it cook for a few minutes, flip it to the other side and let that side also cook.
- Repeat and keep aside the cooked crepes.
- In a large non stick sauce pan, combine the chicken, chili powder, turmeric powder, fennel powder, garam masala and salt.
- Cover the pan with its lid and cook the chicken until it turns tender and well cooked.
- When all the water dries up, add 2 tbsp of oil to the cooked chicken, and stir fry the chicken till it turns light brown in color.
- Using a wooden spoon, break the cooked chicken into thin small pieces.
- Remove from the heat and keep the chicken aside.
- Heat a large non stick pan, add oil, add onion, put salt and saute till the onion turns tender and slightly browned.
- Add the ginger-garlic paste, saute for a few minutes.
- Add garam masala and curry leaves, saute for a minute.
- Now, add the cooked chicken along with chili powder, fennel powder and coriander powder.
- Combine well and let it cook for some more time.
- Finally garnish it with cilantro and remove from the heat.
- Heat a small pan, add ghee and roast cashew nuts and raisins till they turn golden brown in color and keep aside
- Beat the eggs and keep aside.
- Grease a round cake pan or round glass bowl with ghee.
- Dip one of the crepes in the beaten eggs and place it as the first layer on the cake pan.
- Spread the chicken stuffing on top of the crepe, don't over spread it.
- Spread some roasted cashew nuts, raisins and poppy seeds over the chicken stuffing.
- Dip the second crepe in beaten egg and place it over the chicken stuffing.
- Repeat this till you form layers with 5 crepes. ( you could make as many layers as you want)
- After you form 5 layers, pour 2 tbsp of beaten egg over the layered crepes.
- Make a second batch with the rest of the crepes and chicken stuffing.
- Fill ¼ th of a large pan with water.
- Heat the large pan with water over medium heat.
- Cover the cake pan with aluminum foil.
- Place the cake pan into the water in the large pan.
- Cover the large pan with its lid and steam cook it for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, take the cake pan out of water, remove the aluminum foil and let cool down for a while.
- Run a sharp knife through the sides of the adukku pathiri and gently lift it using a spatula and place it on a platter.
- Cut the adukku pathiri into wedges and serve as an appetizer or main course.
